.945 
|C8  37 
Zntofliol, 


:-NRLF 


B    3 


D 


B7 


I   LIBRARY   } 

op 


PROCEEDINGS  OF 


THE 


Boll  Weevil  Convention 


CALLED  BY 


Governor  W*  W.  Heard  UBRARY 


DOCUMENTS  DEPM 


IN 


New  Orleans,  Louisiana, 

Nor.  30th  and  Dec.  Jst,  J903. 


HON.   ABE   BRITTIN,   PRESIDENT  COTTON   EXCHANGE, 

Temporary   Chairman. 
COL.    CHARJ     ^SCHULER,    OP   DE    SOTO    PARISH, 

Bfeuanert  Chairman. 
HON.    N.    S.  '    HERTY,    OF   BATON    ROUGE, 

j.    Secretary. 

MR.    Mil      r'?LL,    OF    SHREVEPORT, 
•'ant  Secretary. 


Issued  by  the  Burcuu  ^    Agriculture  and  Immigration, 
J.  G.  LEE,  COMMISSIONER.  BATON  ROUGE,  LA. 


MENTl 


REGULATIONS  FOR  THE  LIBRARY 


jftuietg, 


ADOPTED    1861. 


AS 


ARTICLE    I. 

All  Books,  Manuscripts,  Drawings,  Engravings,  Paintings,  Models,  Fur- 
niture, and  other  articles  appertaining  ro  the  Library,  shall  be  confined 
to  the  special  care  of  the  Committee  on  the  Library. 

ARTICLE  II. 

When  any  books  or  publications  are  added  to  the  Library,  a  list  thereof 
shall  be  posted  up  in  the  Library  Room,  aud  all  such  additions  shall  be 
withheld  from  circulation  for  the  term  of  one  month. 

ARTICLE   III. 

The  following  Books  of  Record  shall  be  kept:— 
A  Catalogue  ot  the  Books. 
A  Catalogue  of  the  Manuscripts,  Drawings,  Engravings,  Paint- 

ings, Models,  and  all  other  articles. 
No.  3.    A  list  of  all  Donations,  Bequests,  Books,  or  other  articles  pre- 
sented to  the  Society,  with  the  date  thereof,  and  the  name 
and  residence  of  the  donor. 

ARTICLE   IV. 

Rare  and  costly  books  shall  not  be  taken  from  the  Library  Room.  A 
list  of  such  works  as  are  to  be  withheld  from  circulation  shall  be  made 
out  from  time  to  time  by  the  Library  Committee,  and  placed  in  the  hands 
of  the  Librarian. 

ARTICLE  V. 

No  more  than  two  volumes  shall  be  taken  out  by  any  member  at  one 
time,  or  retained  longer  than  three  weeks;  and  for  each  volume  retained 
beyond  that  time  a  fine  of  ten  cents  per  week  shall  be  paid  by  the  person 
so  retaining  it.  And  a  fraction  of  a  week  shall  be  reckoned  as  a  whole 
week  in  computing  fines. 

ARTICLE  VI. 

Every  Book  shall  be  returned  in  good  order  (regard  being  had  to  the 
necessary  wear  thereof  with  proper  usage),  and  if  any  Book  shall  be  lost 
or  injured,  the  person  to  whom  it  stands  charged  shall,  at  the  election  of 
the  Committee  on  the  Library,  replace  it  by  a  new  volume  or  set,  or  pay 
for  it  at  its  value  to  the  Society. 

ARTICLE  VII. 

All  Books  shall  be  returned  to  the  Library  for  examination  on  or  before 
the  first  Saturday  in  July,  annually,  aud  remain  until  after  the  third  Sat- 
urday of  said  month,  and  every  person  neglecting  to  return  any  Book  or 
Books  charged  to  him  as  herein  required,  shall  pay  a  fine  of  twenty  cents 
per  week,  for  every  volume  so  retained.  Aud  if  at  the  re-opening  of  the 
Library,  any  Book  shall  still  be  unreturned,  the  person  by  whom  it  is 
retained  shall  pay  for  the  said  Book  or  set,  as  provided  in  Article  VI, 
together  with  any  tines  which  may  have  accumulated  thereon;  and  a 
notice  to  this  effect  shall  be  forthwith  mailed  to  him  by  the  Librarian. 

ARTICLE  VIII. 

No  member  shall  loan  a  book  to  any  other  person,  under  the  penalty  of 
a  tine  of  $1.00. 

ARTICLE  IX. 

When  a  written  request  shall  be  left  at  the  Library  for  a  particular 
Book  then  out,  it  shall  be  retained  for  the  person  requiring  it,  for  one 
week  after  it  shall  have  been  returned. 

ARTICLE  X. 

Every  book  shall  be  numbered  in  the  order  in  which  it  is  arranged  in 
the  Books  of  Record,  and  also  have  a  copy  of  the  foregoing  regulations 
affixed  to  it. 


691 


In  a^  conference  at  the  St.  Charles  Hotel,  New  Orleans,  La.,  on  Nov. 
i3th,  1903,  between  His  Excellency  W.  W.  Heard,  Governor  of  Louisiana, 
and  committees  from  the  Shreveport  Board  of  Trade,  the  North  Louisi- 
ana Cotton  Planters'  Association  and  the  New  Orleans  Cotton  Exchange 
it  was  decided  to  call  a  convention  of  the  planters,  farmers  and  all  others 
interested  in  the  Cotton  Industry,  to  meet  in  New  Orleans,  Nov.  30th, 
and  Dec.  3ist,  1903,  for  the  purpose  of  discussing  the  boll  weevil  question 
and  considering  the  advisability  of  requesting  the  Governor  to  call  an  early 
session  of  the  General  Assembly  to  enact  such  laws  as  may  be  necessary 
to  protect  this  State  from  the  invasion  of  the  Mexican  Boll  Weevil. 

In  accordance  with  this  conference,  Gov.  Heard  by  official  proclama- 
tion, called  together  this  convention.  Appropriate  committees  secured  a 
suitable  hall  for  the  meeting,  obtained  reduced  hotel  rates  and  railroad 
transportation  and  prepared  the  following  program  for  the  meeting: 


691 


PROGRAMME 

OF    THE 

Louisiana  Boll  Weevil  Convention 

ODD   FELLOWS   HALL, 

(Opposite    Lafayette   Square), 
November  30th  and  December  1st. 

NEW    ORLEANS,    LA. 

HON.  ABE  BRITTIN,  President  Cotton  Exchange,  Temporary  Chairman. 

COL.  CHARLES  SCHULER,  of  DeSoto  Parish,  Permanent  Chairman. 

HON.  N.  S.  DOLGHERTY,  of  Baton  Rouge,  Secretary. 

One  rate  for  round  trip  by  all  railroads.  Tickets  good  from  28th  November  to 
December  3d.  Hotels  will  give  special  rates.  Headquarters :  St.  Charles 
Hotel. 

MONDAY,    NOVEMBER   30th,    1903,    12    m. 

Convention  called  to  order  by  temporary  chairman,  Hon.  Abe  Brittin,  presi- 
dent Cotton  Exchange. 

Introduction  of  permanent  chairman,  Col.  Chas.  Schuler,  of  DeSoto  Parish. 
La. 

"The  Boll  Weevil,"  Prof.  3.  H.  Connell,  secretary  Texas  Boll  Weevil  Conven- 
tion, Dallas,  Tex. 

"How  to  Protect  Louisiana  Against  the  Invasion  of  the  Boll  Weevil,"  Prof 
II.  A.  Morgan,  entomologist  of  Louisiana  Experiment  Stations,  Baton  Rouge,  La. 

Appointment  of  Committees — Committee  on  credentials,  committee  on  reso- 
lutions, committee  on  legislation ;  other  committees. 
Recess  till  2  p.  m. 

"National  Aid  in  Fighting  the  Boll  Weevil,"  Hon.  Jas.  Wilson,  Secretary  of 
Agriculture,  Washington,  D.  C. ;  Hon.  Phaneor  Brazeale,  of  Natchitoches,  La.  ; 
Hon.  Jas.  E.  Randell,  of  Lake  Providence,  La. 

"Legislation  Required  to  Meet  Our  Emergencies,"  Judge  John  C.  Pugh,  of 
Shreveport,  La. 

"Constitutionality  of  Proposed  Legislation,"  Judge  Walter  A.  Guion,  Attorney 
General  of  Louisiana,  New  Orleans. 

TUESDAY,  DECEMBER  1st,   1903. 

MORNING    SESSION    10   A.    M. 

"Planters'  Interest  in  Repelling  the  Boll  Weevil,"  Hon.  F.  P.  Stubbs,  Sr., 
Monroe,  La. 

"Merchants'  Interest,"  Mr.  Jno.  M.  Parker,  New  Orleans,  La. 

"Bankers'  Interest,"  Hon.  Sam'l  McC.  Lawrason,  St.  Francisville,  La. 

"Oil  Mills'  Interest,"  Mr.  S.  P.  Sullivan,  Alexandria,  La. 

"Birds  in  Relation  to  Boll  Weevil,"  Mr.  F.  M.  Muller,  president  Audubon 
Societies,  New  Orleans. 

EVENING  SESSION   2  P.   M. 

Reports  of  committees.  Discussion  of  reports.  Appointment  of  permanent 
committees.  Unfinished  business.  New  business.  Adjournment. 

The  railroads  will  give  one  fare  for  the  round  trip.  Tickets  on  sale  Novem- 
ber 28th  and  29th,  and  good  till  December  3rd  inclusive.  Headquarters,  St. 
Charles  Hotel.  Hotels  will  give  special  rates. 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    THE    BOLL    WEEVIL    CONVENTION.  5 

A  large  number  of  delegates  representing  nearly  every  Cotton  Parish 
in  the  State,  were  present  testifying  their  interest  in  the  objects  of  the 
Convention. 

At  noon  on  the  3Oth  Nov.,  the  Convention  was  called  to  order  in  the 
Odd  Fellows  Hall,  in  the  City  of  New  Orleans,  by  the  temporary  chair- 
man, Abe  Brittin,  President  of  the  N.  O.  Cotton  Exchange,  who  spoke 
as  follows : 

"I  bring  you 

GREETINGS    FROM   THE    COTTON    EXCHANGE, 

which  extends  you  its  privileges  while  you  are  in  the  city,  and  will  co- 
operate with  you  in  any  movement  for  the  extermination  of  the  Mexi- 
can cotton  boll  weevil. 

''You  are  called  upon  to  consider  ways  and  means  for  arresting  the 
further  progress  of  the  pest.  More  than  this,  you  are  expected  to  devise 
means  to  permanently  exterminate  the  weevil.  It  is  folly  to  say  that  this 
cannot  be  accomplished.  It  can  be  accomplished;  it  must  be  accom- 
plished; it  will  be  accomplished.  When  the  vineyards  of  France  were 
threatened,  France  produced  her  Pasteur,  and  the  vineyards  were  saved. 
America  will  produce  her  Pasteur,  and  the  cotton  fields  will  be  saved. 

"'Last  September  I  said  that  the  most  momentous  peril  involved  in 
the  cotton  outlook  was  the  Mexican  cotton  boll  weevil.  The  evil  is 
spreading,  and  eventually  it  will  spread  from  Texas  to  other  States 
The  seriousness  of  the  situation  should  be  brought  to  the  attention  of 
the  Government. 

"With  the  increased  acreage,  improved  fertilizers  and  methods  of 
culture,  we  are  to-day  five  years  away  from  the  production  of  a  maxi- 
mum crop.  This  has  not  occurred  in  twenty-five  years,  and,  if  we  except 
the  period  of  the  Civil  War,  it  has  never  occurred  in  the  history  of  the 
South.  Production  is  not  keeping  pace  with  consumption,  and  if  this  con- 
dition be  not  relieved,  some  other  section  of  the  world  will  produce  the 
cotton  needed.  This  should  not  be.  This  may  be  a  time  for  the  States 
to  hedge  the  weevil  in  or  out,  but  the  paramount  responsibility  rests 
upon  the  National  Government.  And  we  need  not  go  to  Congress  as 
mendicants,  but,  with  heads  erect,  present  the  situation,  and  say  that  if 
it  would  protect  the  industry,  a  remedy  must  be  found. 

"It  is  almost  impossible  to  imagine  what  would  have  occurred  to  the 
trade  of  this  country  if  the  cotton  crop  had  failed  last  year  as  completely 
as  the  corn  crop  did.  There  is  not  a  financial  institution  in  this  country 
that  would  not  have  been  shaken  to  its  very  foundation.  So  the  east  is 
more  interested  in  the  matter  than  the  South,  for  the  South,  without 
cotton  could,  by  other  resources,  stand  alone.  But  the  Nation's  contmerce 
must  be  maintained,  and  if  it  costs  a  million  or  five  millions  to  destroy 
the  weevil,  it  would  pay  the  Government  to  do  so." 


6  PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOLL  WEEVIL  CONVENTION. 

At  the  conclusion  of  his  remarks,  Mr.  Brittin  introduced  the  perma- 
nent Chairman, 

HON.  CHAS.  SCHULER, 
who  spoke  as  follows : 

"Gentlemen  of  the  Convention  and  Brother  Farmers  Interested  in  the 
Culture  of  Cotton  :  This  Convention  has  been  called  by  His  Excellency, 
the  Governor  of  this  State,  with  a  view  to  consulting  with  the  people 
most  interested  in  the  welfare  of  the  State  and  the  cotton  industry,  to  see 
whether  it  is  necessary  to  call  an  extra  session  of  the  Legislature  to  take 
steps  and  pass  laws  by  which  to  check  the  progress  of  the  insect  that 
is  threatening  the  welfare  not  only  of  the  State,  but  of  the  country. 

"The  State  of  Louisiana  is  threatened  on  the  west  by  an  insect  known 
as  the  Mexican  cotton-boll  weevil.  It  has  been  a  mystery  to  me  that  the 
great  State  of  Texas,  with  its  immense  territory  from  west  to  east,  would 
permit  an  insect  to  destroy  millions  of  its  property  without  any  effort,  so 
far  as  I  know,  on  the  part  of  the  State  to  check  its  course.  How  was  it 
that  the  veterans  who  sacrificed  their  property  and  their  lives  to  drive 
back  the  human  vermin  that  infested  their  State  would  suffer  this  insect 
to  overwhelm  them?  If  we  consider  the  amount  of  money  that  is  in 
circulation;  if  we  consider  the  number  of  people  that  live  upon  the  pro- 
duction and  handlings  of  this  staple,  we  can  realize  the  immense  import- 
ance of  the  crop. 

"I  am  not  going  to  suggest  any  method  of  combating  the  insect,  or  to 
describe  his  habits.  I  want  to  call  your  attention  to  the  fact  that  this  is 
not  a  personal  and  individual  or  even  a  State  matter,  but  a  national  con- 
cern, and  I  think  it  will  be  the  greatest  of  calamities  if  this  great  Govern- 
ment of  ours  does  not  check  the  advance  of  the  insect. 

"Mr.  R.  H.  Edmunds,  editor  of  the  Manufacturers'  Record,  in  a  recent 
article,  makes  the  statement  that  from  the  year  1881  to  the  year  1900,  the 
export  value  of  cotton  and  its  products,  manufactured  and  otherwise, 
reached,  in  round  numbers,  the  enormous  sum  of  $5,900,000,000.  He  also 
gave  figures  to  prove  that  the  export  value  of  wheat,  corn  and  flour  in 
the  same  period  only  amounted  to  $4,150,000,000.  The  great  European 
centers  of  France,  Germany,  Belgium  and  Australia  encourage  the  rais- 
ing of  the  beet  sugar  by  a  large  bounty,  not  to  encourage  the  production 
for  home  consumption,  but  to  balance  the  account  of  nations. 

"A  few  months  ago  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  in  order  to  afford 
financial  help,  in  a  period  of  monetary  stringency,  distributed  among  the 
national  depositors  $100,000,000.  This  great  sum  had  the  effect  of  bal- 
ancing trade  conditions  and  preventing  what  would  have  been  a  great 
national  calamity.  The  export 

VALUE  OF  COTTON 

during  the  month  of  October,  in  this  last  year — one  month,  no  more — 
amounted  to  $60,000,000.     Does  any  individual,  knowing  this,  think  that 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    THE   BOLL    WEEVIL    CONVENTION.  7 

the  National  Government  could  afford  to  keep  hands  off  and  not  render 
help  in  this  crisis?  Some  of  us  who  are  old  enough  remember  the  effect 
on  the  National  Treasury  when  the  exportation  of  cotton  was  prohibited 
by  blackade. 

"From  1881  to  1900  the  cotton  growers  suffered  with  low  prices.  It 
was  during  this  time  that  cotton  .reached  the  phenomenally  low  price  of 
4  and  5  cents ;  yet,  during  that  time,  the  export  value  of  cotton  amounted 
to  $1,750,000,000  more  than  the  combined  export  value  of  corn,  wheat  and 
flour. 

"Why  has  the  consumption  of  cotton  increased?  In  1881  the  cotton 
crop  of  the  United  States  amounted  to  a  fraction  over  6,000,000  bales.  In 
1902  the  cotton  crop  amounted  to  11,000,000  bales  and  yet  there  was  no 
surplus.  With  the  vast  territory  now  being  opened  to  trade,  the  600,000,- 
ooo  inhabitants  of  China  and  the  territory  of  the  Philippine  Islands  and 
Asia,  can  it  be  supposed  for  a  moment  that  the  consumption  will  not  be 
further  and  vastly  increased? 

"Sometimes  we  hear  of  men  saying  that  it  will  be  a  blessing  in  dis- 
guise; that  we  cotton  planters  ought  to  learn  to  plant  lettuce,  cabbage, 
onions,  etc.,  in  order  to  make  a  profit.  Now,  every  cotton  planter  here 
present  knows  how  absolutely  foolish  this  is.  Others  say  that  it  will 
prove  a  blessing  in  disguise,  because  we  can  get  50  cents  a  pound  for 
cotton.  But  they  forget  that  the  balance  of  the  world  is  making  heroic 
efforts  to  grow  this  very  staple  in  other  portions  of  the  world. 

"My  friends,  I  will  not  keep  you  longer.  The  object  I  had  in  view  was 
to  impress  upon  you  the  immense  importance  of  getting  both  the  State 
and  the  nation  to  take  decisive  action.  The  National  Government  can  do 
nothing  until  the  State  acts.  It,  therefore,  rests  with  you,  gentlemen  of 
the  Convention,  as  to  whether  you  want  anything  done  or  not." 

The  Chairman  then  introduced 

PROF.  J.  H.  CONNELL, 

Secretary  of  the  Texas  Boll  Weevil  Convention,  at  Dallas,  who  spoke  as 
follows:  In  point. 

"I  extend  to  this  Convention  the  good  wishes  and  godspeed  of  a  neigh- 
boring State.  We  know  the  seriousness  of  the  problem  that  you  have 
met  to  consider.  The  burned  child  dreads  the  fire.  We  have  been  in 
close  contact  with  the  problem  that  now  threatens  you,  and  the  result  we 
have  seen  may  be  of  interest  and  importance  to  the  agricultural  and  cot- 
ton interests  of  Louisiana.  Whatever  we  have  learned  is  freely  at  the 
disposal  of  the  Louisiana  business  interests. 

"A  few  years  ago  the  farmers  of  the  southern  part  of  Texas  found  a 
little  insect  that  preyed  upon  cotton.  There  were  all  kinds  of  conjec- 
tures about  this  insignificant  insect,  some  absurd,  all  far  astray.  At  that 
time  nothing  was  known  about  the  insect,  exactly  upon  what  it  feeds, 
how  it  multiplies  and  spreads  abroad.  When,  therefore,  the  Texas 


8  PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOLL  WEEVIL  CONVENTION. 

planter  first  saw  that  same  little  insect  that  had  bored  in  the  stalk,  they 
thought  that  it  laid  eggs  in  the  stalk  and  that  it  was  a  kind  of  tree  insect. 
The  Government  sent  Dr.  W.  D.  Hunter  down  to  investigate,  and  he 
found  that  it  was  a  false  alarm,  and  that  this  false  alarm  on  account  of 
the  tree  insect  was  creating  considerable  trouble. 

"One  idea  I  want  to  impress  on  you  is  that  all  the  breadstuffs,  meat  and 
other  products,  of  the  United  States  do  not  equal  a  single  export  cotton 
crop.  Therefore,  the  interest  that  the  United  States  general  Government: 
has  taken  in  the  matter  is  not  only  reasonable,  but  necessary. 

'On  his  recent  visit  to  the  boll  weevil  region  of  my  State,  Secretary 
Wilson  assured  us  that  the 

DEPARTMENT  OF  AGRICULTURE  WOULD  CO-OPERATE 

with  us.  Just  what  form  that  co-operation  will  take  I  am  unable  to  say, 
for  we  have  been  as  yet  unable  to  fix  upon  a  definite  plan  of  co-operation. 
It  is  from  such  a  meeting  as  this  that  the  people  conclude  what  it  is  the\ 
want;  and  we  have  found  in  Texas  before  this  that  the  United  States 
Government  is  willing  to  meet  us  half  way.  I  have  no  doubt  that  this 
experience  will  be  repeated  here. 

"Let  me  call  your  attention  briefly  to  some  questions  in  reference  to  the 
life  of  the  weevil.  First,  in  what  kind  of  land  does  he  thrive  most?  In 
what  kind  of  land  does  he  create  the  greatest  devastation?  Living,  as  it 
does,  in  timber,  trash  and  foul  lands,  those  cotton  lands  near  the  timber 
are  most  injuriously  affected.  Since  it  is  an  insect  that  depends  upon 
moisture  during  the  summer  season,  those  counties  that  receive  the  most 
rain  are  most  injuriously  affected.  Since  moisture  is  absolutely  necessary 
we  find  that  there  is  a  difference  in  soils  with  the  same  annual  rainfall, 
between  the  naturally  dry  and  naturally  wet  sorts.  Take  our  dry,  hard 
prairie  soil;  the  weevil  does  not  multiply  nearly  so  rapidly  as  it  does  in 
the  alluvial  land.  It  is  a  fact  that  has  been  frequently  demonstrated  by 
the  thousands  of  observations  in  Texas.  Whether  or  not  you  will  find 
other  conditions  that  will  limit  the  weevil  to  Texas  I  am  not  able  to  say. 
We  are  inclined  to  assume  that  the  northward  march  and  spread  of  the 
weevil  is  much  slower  than  the  eastward  spread.  But  this  has  very  little 
consolation  for  Louisiana. 

"During  the  present  year  the  weevil  has  advanced  more  than  twenty- 
five  miles  to  the  north.  During  that  time  he  has  reached  more  than  two 
hundred  miles  to  the  eastward,  and  he  has  it  will  go  as  far  to  the  north, 
into  Oklahoma  and  Arkansas,  we  cannot  tell;  but  reached  as  far  to  the 
westward.  Whether  these  are  interesting  facts  with  reference  to  the 

SPREAD  OF  THE  INSECT. 

"How  it  comes  into  Texas  nobody  seems  to  know.  The  furtherest 
south  cotton  crop  in  Texas  was  250  miles  from  the  nearest  Mexican  cot- 
ton, across  burning  sand  and  desolate  wastes.  Whether  a  cyclone  beat 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOLL  WEEVIL  CONVENTION.  9 

them  up  and  carried  them  across,  or  whether  some  Mexican  greaser 
packed  them  up  and  carried  them  into  Texas,  when  he  went  to  pick  cot- 
ton, is  not  known,  and  in  all  probability  never  will  be. 

"Now,  how  does  the  weevil  come  into  a  community?  Let  me  tell  you 
how  it  appeared  in  Texas.  After  a  dozen  or  more  false  specimens  are 
brought  in  town  by  anxious  farmers,  finally  a  real  weevil  is  brought  in. 
The  farm  from  which  this  specimen  came  is  watched  with  a  great  deal 
of  solicitude  by  the  business  men  of  the  town. 

WE  HAVE  NEVER  YET  TRIED  TO  BLOCK  OUT 

a  farm  or  infected  place.  Familiarity  with  the  habits  of  the  weevil 
explains  this.  We  have  to  look  over  the  field  with  a  microscope,  a  tele- 
scope, and  comb  the  field  with  a  fine-toothed  comb  before  we  can  find  the 
boil  weevil,  and  it  may  be  that  while  we  are  watching  and  examining  one 
rield  another  two  miles  away  may  be  full  of  them. 

"However  it  happened,  for  two  years  the  cotton  crop  continued  to  grow 
less.  The  farms  have  difficulty  in  securing  tenants,  and  have  to  reduce 
their  rent;  the  merchants  extend  time  on  the  land,  and  when  the  time 
comes  around  they  are  unable  to  meet  their  obligations  and  have  to  give 
up  their  holdings;  and  as  a  result  of  this  state  of  things,  men  dropping 
out  of  business  in  every  direction,  you  will  find  certain  towns  in  well 
established  boll  weevil  regions  that  have  decreased  as  to  volume  of  busi- 
ness fully  50  per  cent,  in  the  past  four  years.  In  order  that  this  may  not 
come  about  in  your  own  fair  State,  this  shrinking  of  towns  and  dwind- 
ling of  resources,  you  must  recognize,  gentlemen  of  Louisiana,  the  fact 
that  cotton  is  the  basic  principle  in  all  interests  of  the  South. 

"Let  me  call  to  your  attention  the  cotton  production  by  counties  of 
certain  portions  of  Texas  for  the  past  few  years  in  regions  in  which  the 
boll  weevil  has  become  established.  Travis  County  in  1899  produced  60,- 
ooo  bales  of  cotton,  in  1900,  71,000;  in  1901,  40,994,  and  in  1902,  28,382. 
Reduced  more  than  half  in  these  four  years.  Fayette  produced  in  1899 
73,238;  in  1902,  31,200  bales.  Washington  in  1899  produced  49>7Qi>  in 
1902,  19,532. 

"These  are  typical  counties.  The  figures  are  not  yet  in  for  these  coun- 
ties for  1903.  Ellis  County,  which  stood  first  in  all  the  world  for  produc- 
tion of  cotton,  and  Navajo  County,  which  stood  third,  have  fallen  far,  far 
down  in  the  list.  The  boll  weevil  has  been  in  them  for  a  number  of 
years.  You  can  see  the  destruction  to  the  business  interests  of 
Texas  that  has  been  wrought,  and  will  continue  unless  the 
methods  suggested  by  the  United  States  Government  are  fully 
and  generally  carried  out.  But  the  ordinary  farmer  is  a  very  hard 
person  to  influence,  and  to  induce  him  to  turn  his  old  methods  inside  out, 
as  it  will  be  necessary  to  do,  is  an  extremely  difficult  task. 


IO  PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOLL  WEEVIL  CONVENTION. 

"Some  people  seem  to  think  that  the  boll  weevil  is  about  as  big  as  one's 
fist.  Financially  he  is  much  bigger,  but  physically  he  is  not  quite  that 
large.  But  the  boll  weevil  is  not  all  bad.  Occasionally  we  get  a  little  fun 
out  of  him.  A  farmer  told  a  story  about  trying  to  exterminate  the  boll 
weevil  on  his  farm  which  has  some  elements  of  humor.  He  said  that 
he  gathered  all  the  insects  in  his  crop  and  put  them  in  a  glass  jar,  put 
the  jar  under  a  brush  heap  and  set  the  brush  heap  afire.  When  the  heap 
burned  down  he  raked  the  ashes  over  with  a  rake.  He  said  he  found  the 
jar  red  hot  and  the  weevils  inside,  red  hot,  too.  He  thought  they  were 
dead,  but  he  opened  the  jar  and  the  weevils  flew  out.  'And  confound 
them,'  he  said,  tearfully  afterward,  'they  flew  into  my  barn  and  set  it 
afire.' 

"The  weevil  is  a  hidden  foe.     He 

FIGHTS   BEHIND  BREASTWORKS.  • 

We  cannot  poison  him,  or  least,  we  have  not  found  out  so  far  how  to 
do  it.  The  eggs  are  laid  inside  the  boll,  and  mature  on  the  ground  after 
the  boll  has -fallen  off,  out  of  the  reach  of  poison.  By  following  improved 
methods,  it  is  possible  to  produce  a  crop  even  in  the  infected  districts.  If 
all  the  fallen  bolls  are  picked  off  the  ground  and  burned,  and  the  weevils 
not  allowed  to  mature,  methods  of  culture,  to  produce,  at  an  slight  in- 
crease to  the  cost  of  production.  It  is  possible,  by  following  improved 
methods  of  culture  to  produce,  at  an  added  cost  of  $2  or  $3  per  acre, 
an  average  crop  of  from  one-half  to  three-quarters  of  a  bale.  The  dif- 
ficulty is  in  persuading  the  average  farmer  to  follow  improved  methods. 

"[  am  unable  to  express  an  opinion  on  the  best  methods  of  keeping  the 
boll  weevil  out  of  Louisiana.  But  whatever  we  can  do  in  Texas,  in 
co-operation  with  you  and  the  Government,  you  may  rest  assured  that 
the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Texas  Boll  Weevil  Commission  will  be 
pleased  to  lend  a  helping  hand  in  all  that  vou  undertake." 

The  next  speaker  was : 

DR.  W.  D.  HUNTER, 

one  of  the  United  States  entomologists  in  the  Department  of  Agriculture. 
Dr.  Hunter  said  in  part: 

"The  boll  weevil  was  probably  brought  into  the  United  States  by  being 
transported  from  the  cotton  region  of  Mexico  in  the  boats  that  were  used 
to  carry  freight  across  the  Rio  Grande,  in  cotton  that  was  bound  for 
Brownsville  to  be  ginned  and  baled.  The  weevil  was  carried  across  200 
miles. 

"The  farmers  of  that  region  wrote  to  the  Department  of  Agriculture 
that  some  strange  insect  had  appeared  down  there  that  was  ruining  the 
cotton.  This  awakened  interest  in  the  Department,  and  in  March,  1895, 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOLL   WEEVIL  CONVENTION.  II 

they  sent  a  man  down  there  who  spent  some  time  investigating  the  life 
history  of  the  insect,  in  order  to  know  what  were  the  weakest  points  of 
the  insect.  At  the  same  time,  realizing  the  importance  of  the  insect  to 
Texas,  and  seeing  that  it  threatened  the  crop  throughout  the  United 
States,  another  man  was  sent  to  Central  America,  where  the  weevil  has 
its  home,  in  order  to  find  out  two  points :  First,  if  any  cotton  grown 
there  was  immune,  and  second,  to  determine  what  natural  conditions 
would  hold  the  insect  in  check.  This  investigation  has  as  yet  led  to  no 
tangible  results,  although  it  has  been  carried  on  in  the  native  home  of  the 
insect. 

"In  Texas  the  progress  of  the  insect  has  been  marked  very  carefully,  in 
order  to  study  the  manner  in  which  the  insect  reaches  out  across  new  terri- 
tory. Maps  have  been  drawn  showing  what  counties  have  been  infested 
each  year.  After  a  few  investigations,  it  became  quite  evident  that  no 
efficacious  means  had  yet  been  devised.  The  conclusion  has  been  reached 
lhat 

EXTERMINATION  IS  OUT  OF  THE  QUESTION. 

No  insect  in  the  world  has  ever  been  extermined.  The  complete 
futility  of  all  plans  to  exterminate  the  weevil  has  been  demonstrated. 
The  best  we  can  do  is  to  restrain  it  by  keeping  it  in  check. 

-  "Mexico  farmers  have  hit  upon  the  plan  of  planting  their  crops  earlier 
in  the  season.     Such  farmers  make  a  very  good  crop,  of  cotton  where 
their  neighbors  make  absolutely  none.     Cultural   methods   in  controlling 
the  weevil  consist  in  early  planting,  planting  of  immense  varieties,  and 
cultivating  in  every  possible  way  and  using  every  effort  to  hasten  the 
crop. 

-  "It  has  been  carefully  calculated  that  one  pair  of  boll  weevils  can  pro- 
duce between  April  15  and  Nov.  15,  134,000,000  full  grown  weevils.    The 
one  ray  of  hope  is  that  they  have  never  been  known  to  feed  on  anything 
except  cotton,  except  in  case  of  absolute  starvation. 

"Nine  experiment  stations  have  been  established  in  Texas,  with  head- 
quarters at  Victoria.  Altogether  1,000  acres  have  been  set  apart  for  ex- 
perimental purposes.  The  results  for  this  year  are  not  yet  all  in,  but  on 
the  average  we  can  produce  half  a  bale,  and  sometimes  a  bale,  to  the 
acre  in  spite  of  the  weevil.  In  one  station  on  the  Gulf  of  California,  of 
TOO  acres,  fifty  yielded  over  a  bale ;  the  other  fifty  yielded  something  more 
than  half  a  bale.  The  average  cost,  produced  on  this  ground,  taking  into 
consideration  taxes,  wear  atid  tear  of  machinery,  labor,  etc.,  was  4-i6 
cents.  This  can  be  sold  at  a  considerable  profit,  so  that  even  with  the 
weevil  cotton  can  be  raised  probably— indeed,  more  profitably  than  corn, 
which  at  the  least  figure  is  9.71  cents  per  bushel.  Even  half  a  bale  will 
sell  at  a  profit.  Careless  farmers  do  the  greatest  damage. 

"In  conclusion,  let  me  assure  you  that  the  Department  of  Agriculture 


12  PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOLL  WEEVIL  CONVENTION. 

has  this  matter  very  much  at  heart.  It  is  seconding  you  in  every  way  pos- 
sible, and  I  can  assure  you  that  whatever  plan  this  Convention  may 
formulate  will  receive  the  co-operation  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture 
at  Washington." 

The  next  speaker  was 

PROF.  H.  A.  MORGAN, 
Station  Entomologist.     He  said : 
HOW  TO  PROTECT  LOUISIANA  AGAINST  THE  INVASION  OF 

THE  BOLL  WEEVIL. 

We  are  confronted  to-day  with  a  problem  of  very  difficult  solution.  To 
successfully  overcome,  or  even  to  retard  for  a  few  years,  the  entrance  of 
the  Mexican  boll  weevil  into  Louisiana  will  require  the  united  efforts  of 
every  one  interested  in  Louisiana's  future. 

All  effective  preventive  and  remedial  measures  used  against  the  inju- 
rious insects  of  the  world  are  the  outcome  of  careful  investigation  and 
study  of  life-cycles  and  habits  and  of  the  conditions  peculiar  to  the 
locality  where  these  remedies  are  put  into  operation.  Unless  the  work 
against  the  weevil  is  based  upon  all  the  known  facts  of  its  habits  and 
development,  and  upon  the  conditions  peculiar  to  the  section  of  country 
where  the  warfare  is  to  be  carried  on,  the  results  will  be  disappointing  and 
harmful. 

In  order  to  understand  any  merit  which  the  suggestions  contained  in 
this  paper  may  possess,  a  short  account  of  the  development  of  the  Mexi- 
can cotton  boll  weevil  and  a  statement  of  some  of  its  more  important 
habits  will  here  be  given. 

The  weevil  belongs  to  that  division  of  insects  which  have  complete 
•  metamorphoses — i.e.,  there  are  four  stages  in  the  existence  of  each  weevil, 
viz:  the  egg,  the  grub  or  worm  stage,  the  pupa,  sometimes  called  "the 
kicker,"  stage,  and  finally  the  adult  or  sexually  mature  form— the  weevil. 
The  adults,  or  weevils,  live  through  the  winter  among  material  of  various- 
kinds.  Grass,  leaves,  bark  of  trees  and  trash  of  any  kind  in  the  cotton 
field  or  in  close  proximity  to  it,  offer  suitable  hibernating  quarters.  That 
weevils  do  not  migrate  far  is  clearly  indicated  in  the  great  saving  to  a 
cotton  crop  where  fall  plowing  of  all  infected  cotton  fields  is  practiced 
after  the  cotton  stalks  and  other  trash  have  been  raked  up  and  thoroughly 
burned.  The  weevils  that  survive  the  hibernating  period  emerge  from 
winter  quarters  in  the  spring  arid  feed  upon  volunteer  or  planted  cotton. 
In  the  forms  or  squares  -eggs  '(one  in  each  square)  are  deposited.  The 
eggs  hatch  in  a  day  or  two  into  the  worms  (grubs  or  larvae),  which  feed 
upon  the  contents  of  the  squares  for  from  eight  to  twenty  days,  depend- 
ing upon  the  temperature.  The  grubs  at  the  end  of  the  existence  of  this 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOLL  WEEVIL  CONVENTION.  13 

stage  assume  the  pupa  or  kicker  condition,  and  in  frojn  five,  to  twelve 
days  the  weevils  emerge  from  the  pupae  and  are  soon  ready 
to  lay  eggs.  Two  facts  must  be  here  emphasized,  viz :  that  the 
entire  early  life  is  completely  concealed  in  the  square  or 
boll,  and  that  the  length  .of  the  cycle  of  development  depends  upon  food 
and  temperature  conditions.  In  early  and  late  summer  thirty  or  more 
days  may  be  consumed  in  the  transformation  from  egg  to  weevil,  while  in 
midsummer  only  fifteen  to  twenty  are  required. 

During  winter  the  weevil  does  not  require  food,  but  in  spring,  summer 
and  fall,  when  life's  functions  are  active,  food  is  essential. 

COTTON  IS  THE  ONLY  KNOWN  FOOD  PLANT. 

In  the  absence  of  cotton  the  weevils  die  in  summer. 

The  importance  of  a  study  of  conditions  cannot  be  too  strongly  empha- 
sized. Misleading  and  confusing  statements  of  the  habits  of  the  weevil 
in  Cuba  and  Mexico  have  recently  appeared  in  our  daily  papers.  These 
statements,  while  correct  for  the  counties  in  which  the  observations  were 
made,  are  in  a  very  limited  sense  applicable  to  the  conditions  existing  in 
Texas  and  Louisiana.  In  Cuba  and  Mexico  cotton  is  perennial,  and  the 
weevil  may  continue  breeding  throughout  the  year,  and,  therefore,  the 
cultural  methods  suggested  and  so  clearly  demonstrated  effective  in  Texas 
are  ineffective  in  Cuba  and  Mexico.  It  is,  therefore,  perplexing  and  mis- 
leading to  base  preventives  or  remedies  for  the  cotton-boll  weevil  upon 
habits  peculiar  to  conditions  at  variance  with  ours. 

When  squares  are  punctured  and  eggs  deposited  in  them  they  invaribly 
fall  to  the  ground,  where,  in  the  shade  of  the  plant,  the  weevil  goes  on 
developing  until  its  life  cycle  is  completed.  The  sun's  heat  frequently 
dries  up  fallen  squares  before  the  weevils  are  mature,  and  hence  the  value 
of  planting  cotton  in  wide  rows  and  plenty  of  distance  between  the  plants 
in  the  row  in  weevil-infected  cotton  lands. 

In  the  presence  of  sufficient  food  the  boll  weevil  does  not  range  exten- 
sively, and  hence  cultural  methods  that  will  limit  the  number  of  weevils 
during  the  active  breeding  season  is  of  the  utmost  importance  in  checking 
the  migration  of  the  weevil  to  other  fields  and  States.  It  therefore  seems 
plain  that  the  wide  distribution  of  the  weevil  each  year  is  not  due  so  much 
to  the  ranging  or  migratory  habits  of  the  weevil  itself,  but  to  the  distribu- 
tion of  material  such  as  cotton,  cottonseed,  hay  and  other  products  from 
infected  lands,  in  and  upon  which  the  weevil  may  be  resting  or  hibernat- 
ing. The  cotton  gin  is  a  focal  point  for  weevils,  which  are  gathered  in 
seed  cotton,  and  the  cottonseed  a  distributing  medium,  especially  in  the 
spring  of  the  year. 

Among  the  suggestions  as  to  how  best  to  protect  Louisiana,  against  the 
invasion  of  the  boll  weevil,  none  seem  more  important  than  the  one 
whereby  every  planter  in  the  State  shall  become  conversant  with  all 


14  PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOLL  WEEVIL  CONVENTION. 

the  known  facts  associated  with  the  life  and  habits  of  the 
weevil  in  order  that  he  may  scrupulously  avoid  its  importation 
and  understand  the  very  best  means  of  eradicating  it,  should 
isolated  outbreaks  appear.  For  a  number  of  years  the  United 
States  Department  of  Agriculture  and  the  Experiment  Station 
authorities  of  Texas  have  been  earnestly  at  work  to  develop  methods 
of  successfully  combatting  the  weevil.  The  result  of  these  investigations 
have  so  far  established  that  insecticides  are  useless,  and  that  the  clean 
culture  of  early  varieties  of  cotton  make  it  possible  to  grow  a  profitable 
crop  The  number  of  weevils  in  infected  fields  is  limited  by  these  cul- 
tural methods  until  the  cotton  plants  have  had  time  to  mature  their 
fruit.  When  these  cultural  methods  are  adopted  the  natural  range  or 
overflow  of  the  weevil  is  minimized,  but,  unfortunately  for  Texas,  and 
to  the  great  regret  of  the  planters  of  Louisiana,  these  suggestions  have 
riot  been  universally  put  into  practice,  and  the  consequent  increase  of 
the  infected  area  has  become  alarming.  The  weevil  area  of  Texas  has 
spread  until  it  is  only  a  few  miles  from  the  western  border  of  our  State, 
and  from  this  time  out  it  behooves  us  to  guard  zealously  our  borders, 
quarantine  against  infected  products  and  to  adopt  reasonable  methods 
of  preventing  the  natural  and  general  spread  of  this  pest  throughout 
Louisiana. 

Had  we  in  Louisiana,  in  our  present  perturbed  condition,  all  power 
to  completely  eradicate  the  weevil  and  set  at  rest  all  of  the  uninfected 
cotton-growing  area  in  the  United  States,  we  would  have  the  infected 
district  of  Texas  go  out  of  cotton  for  at  least  one  year.  We  are  not 
permitted  to  do,  this,  and  the  good  folk  of  Texas  are  not  disposed  to 
look  at  the  situation  through  Louisiana  glasses,  and  other  methods  of 
protecting  our  State  must  be  inaugurated. 

At  the  present  time 

—A  NON-INFECTED  COTTON  ZONE 

lies  between  the  borders  of  Louisiana  and  the  weevil  fields  of  Texas. 
This  zone  will  protect  us  in  a  very  great  measure  from  gross  infection 
next  year,  provided  the  utmost  care  is  exercised  in  preventing  infected 
products,  particularly  cotton  seed,  hulls,  hay  and  corn,  from  entering 
our  State.  The  most  serious  impediment  to  the  prosecution  of  pre- 
ventive measures  is  the  indifference  of  many  of  our  farmers  and  planters 
as  to  the  seriousness  and  extreme  gravity  of  the  situation,  and  hence  I 
wish  again  to  emphasize  the  great  need  of  an  educational  campaign 
along  the  western  border  of  our  State  that  will  arouse  every  man  to 
the  necessity  of  intelligent,  uniform  and  immediate  action. 

Should  the  weevil  appear  next  spring  and  summer  in  isolated  fields 
of  the  western  border  of  this  State,  such  fields  should  be  immediately  quar- 
antined, and  all  infected  plants  destroyed.  The  adult  weevils  may  be 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOLL  WEEVIL  CONVENTION.  15 

gathered  from  a  few  trap  plants  left  for  this  purpose.  Upon  this  area 
and  on  adjacent  fields  no  cotton  should  be  grown  the  following  year, 
in  order  to  completely  starve  out  any  forms  that  may  have  escaped. 
By  the  time  that  the  infected  area  of  Texas  has  reached  the  Louisiana 
line  on  the  west,  we  will  have  had  time  to  have  tested  the  merit  of 
the  starving  out  method.  If  it  should  prove  successful  then  the  es- 
tablishment of  the  new  cotton-growing  zone,  which  has  been  suggested, 
would  assuredly  have  much  more  to  recommend  it.  There  are  many 
objections  to  be  raised  to  the  establishment  of  a  new  cotton  zone. 
The  expense,  the  difficulty  of  adjusting  our  present  methods  to  other 
crops  to  make  them  as  profitable  as  cotton,  the  experimental  stage  of 
the  suggestion,  all  are  significant  objections  were  even  the  constitutionality 
of  the  plan  admitted.  On  the  other  hand  this  is  possibly  the 
only  method  of  stopping  the  invasion  of  the  weevil  that  is  at 
all  feasible.  Should  the  barrier  prove  effective  the  South's  money 
crop  would  be  saved,  and  the  United  States  would  remain  the 
chief  cotton-producing  country  of  the  world.  The  high  price 
of  cotton  produced  by  the  limited  output,  due  to  the  ravages  of 
the  weevil,  will  encourage  other  countries  to  embark  in  the  growing  of 
cotton,  with  the  result  that  we  shall  have  the  weevil,  and  in  time  only 
an  ordianry  price  for  our  expensive  and  limited  product.  The  prospect 
of  organized  labor,  a  decrease  in  the  price  of  our  lands,  and  a  struggle 
through  a  series  of  years  to  re-establish  our  agricultural  prosperity  is 
certainly  gloomy  and  uninviting.  To  make  no  effort  to  thwart  such 
a  calamity  would  be  criminal. 

It  has  been  suggested  that  people  indifferent  as  to  the  future,  but 
anxious  to  reap  the  immediate  returns  from  a  higher  price  of  cotton, 
would  maliciously  spread  the  weevil  into  uninfected  fields.  This  might 
be  done,  but  we  are  reluctant  to  attribute  to  man  traits  that  are  platonic, 
and  to  believe  that  devils  incarnate  are  inhabitants  of  America  in  the 
twentieth  century.  An  important  medium  of  scattering  the  weevil,  and 
one  likely  to  be  overlooked,  is  in  people  of  Louisiana  sending  to  Texas 
for  weevils  in  order  to  make  comparisons  with  insects  found  in  the 
cotton  fields  here,  or  for  the  purpose  of  merely  seeing  what  specimens 
of  the  boll  weevil  are  like.  Unfortunately,  in  many  cases  live  insects 
are  received,  and  there  is  considerable  danger  of  specimens  escaping. 
Under  no  circumstances  should  live  weevils  be  imported,  either  for  ex- 
amination or  experimentation. 

TO    RECAPITULATE: 

First — It  is  important  and  essential  that  our  preventive  and  remedial 
actions  should  be  based  upon  known  facts  concerning  the  life  of  the 
weevil. 

Second— Louisiana   and   Texas   conditions,    as    regards    plant    growth 


l6  PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOLL   WEEVIL  CONVENTION. 

and  weevil  habits,  are  different  from  Mexico  and  Cuba,  and  it  will 
be  misleading  to  base  our  actions  on  foreign  conditions. 

Third— The  weevil  hibernates  in  the  adult  condition  and  may  exist 
without  food  during  winter,  but  in  summer  dies  in  the  absence  of  cotton, 
the  only  food  plant. 

Fourth— The  weevil  does  not  range  far  in  summer  in  the  presence 
of  plenty  of  food,  and  the  cultural  methods  advocated  by  the  United 
States  Department  of  Agriculture,  whereby  a  profitable  crop  of  cotton 
may  be  grown,  indicate  limited  migratory  habits  at  any  time. 

Fifth — Weevils  may  be  transported  in  farm  products  from  infected 
areas.  Seed  cotton  and  cotton  seed  are  particultrly  dangerous. 

Sixth — A  campaign  of  education  relative  to  the  habits  of  the  weevil 
should  be  conducted  at  once,  especially  along  the  western  border  of 
Louisiana. 

Seventh — The  cultural  methods  adopted  throughout  the  infected  area 
of  Texas  will  minimize  the  natural  spread  of  the  weevil  into  uninfected 
areas. 

Eighth— The  uninfected  zone  in  Texas,  lying  to  the  west  of  Louisiana, 
will  possibly  protect  this  State  from  the  general  and  natural  spread 
this  year. 

Ninth — All  isolated  patches  of  cotton  in  Louisiana  which  become  infected 
this  coming  year  should  be  immediately  quarantined,  and  vigorous  steps 
taken  to  exterminate  the  weevil. 

Tenth — The  lessons  gained  from  the  starving  out  methods  in  isolated 
patches  will  be  of  much  value  in  testing  the  merit  of  a  non-cotton-growing 
zone. 

Eleventh — The  importation  of  live  weevils  by  persons  curious  to  see 
this  insect  or  for  experimental  purposes  should  be  discouraged  and 
prohibited. 

Chairman  Schuler  announced. 

THE    FOLLOWING    COMMITTEES: 

Resolutions — Captain  C.  C.  Davenport,  Morehouse;  Abe  Brittin,  Or- 
leans;; Martin  Glynn,  Point  Coupee;  John  C.  Buchanan,  Lafayette; 
G.  W.  Sentell,  Avoyelles;  W.  E.  Glassell,  Caddo;  D.  W.  Pipes,  East 
Feliciana;  S.  P.  Walmsley,  Orleans;  C.  J.  Edwards,  Vermilion;  F.  L. 
Maxwell,  Madison;  William  Polk,  Rapides;  John  P.  Parker,  Ouachita; 
Joseph  E.  Brewer,  Bienville;  H.  M.  Gandy,  Sabine;  J.  A.  Prudhomme, 
Natchitoches ;  G.  W.  Peyton,  De  Soto. 

Credentials— W.  L.  Foster,  Caddo;  B.  W.  Marston,  Red  River;  C.  M. 
Flower,  Rapides ;  Henry  Von  Phul,  Baton  Rouge ;  J.  T.  McDade,  Bossier. 

Legislation — Judge   John   C.    Pugh,    Shreveport;   Judge   Walter  Guion, 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOLL  WEEVIL  CONVENTION.  If 

New  Orleans;   G.    W.   Bolton,   Rapides ;   W.   C   Hughes,   Bossier;   Prof. 
H.  A.  Morgan,  Baton  Rouge;  G.  W.  Montgomery,  Madison. 
On  motion  the  convention  adjourned  for  dinner. 

AFTERNOON    SESSION. 

Colonel  Charles  Schuler,  Chairman  of  the  Convention,  called  the  mem- 
bers to  order  at  3:30  o'clock  p.  m.,  and  introduced  Dr.  S.  A.  Knapp, 
representative  of  Hon.  James  Wilson,  Secretary  of  Agriculture. 

Dr.  Knapp  spoke  as  follows : 

Mr.  Chairman  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Convention.  I  wish  to  correct 
an  error.  It  seems  that  the  impression  got  abroad  that  the  Secretary 
of  Agriculture  was  to  prepare  a  paper,  or  had  prepared  a  paper  which 
I  was  to  read.  His  Excellency,  your  Governor,  forwarded  an  invitation 
to  Secretary  Wilson,  to  be  present  at  this  Convention;  it  was  impossible 
for  him  to  attend,  and  he  forwarded  the  letter  to  me,  with  the  request 
that  I  attend;  but  no  address  was  prepared  by  him,  nor  even  any  instruc- 
tions. But  I  am  in  receipt  of  full  information  regarding  his  views,  not 
only  by  being  in  contact  with  him  whilst  we  travelled  through  Louisiana 
and  Texas,  but  what  has  occurred  since,  and  by  the  correspondence  that 
has  occurred  between  the  Secretary  and  the  President. 

He  wished  me  to  express  to  you  his  regret  that  he  could  not  be  present 
for  he  has  taken  a  great  interest  in  the  invasion  of  the  State  of  Texas 
by  the  boll  weevil.  His  journey  here  was  made  a  few  week  ago  entirely 
to  understand  the  situation,  and  to  be  prepared  to  combat  it  as  far  as 
possible.  I  think  his  views  have  settled.  First,  I  do  not  misrepresent 
him  in  saying  that  whilst  he  favors  diversification  to  an  extent  at  least 
that  every  farmer  will  produce  the  full  materials  necessary  for  his  farm, 
yet  that  is  really  no  remedy  for  the  situation;  that  where  a  people  are 
adjusted  to  one  line  of  work,  like  the  growing  of  cotton,  it  requires  a 
number  of  years,  a  great  many  years,  to  adapt  them  to  other  things  and 
lines  of  agriculture,  and  there  would  be  a  period  of  long  depression 
and  in  some  portion  of  ruin,  before  such  a  stage  could  be  reached.  It 
would  involve  not  only  the  ruin  of  the  farmer,  but  of  the  towns  and  of 
the  cities  that  are  all  organized  on  the  basis  of  cotton  as  a  cash  crop. 
It  involves  more.  We  are  at  present  producing  not  only  the  food  material 
in  the  United  States  that  we  consume,  but  enough  to  supply  all  the 
demands  of  the  foreign  markets  of  the  world.  Now,  if  the  cotton  States 
should  abandon  the  production  of  cotton,  diversifying  in  the  line  of 
food  products,  they  would  be  combatting  with  our  present  food  producing 
States,  and  the  result  would  be  over  production,  a  crash  in  the  market, 
and  ruin  to  the  whole  country.  Now,  upon  that  basis  the  citizens  of 
this  country  must  all  be  agreed.  There  is  no  question  before  the  American 
people  on  which  they  can  be  better  agreed  than  that  this  has  ceased  to  be 
a  local  or  a  State  question,  but  is  a  national  question;  that  the  farmer 


l8  PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOLL  WEEVIL  CONVENTION. 

dwelling  on  the  hills  of  'Maine  or  inhabiting  the  floral  homes  of  California 
is  just  as  much  interested  in  suppressing  or  battling  with  the  boll  weevil 
as  the  citizens  of  Louisiana  are. 

Now,  the  Secretary  of  Agriculture  and  the  President  are  in  full  accord 
and  fully  agree  that  this  is  a  matter  for  the  whole  nation;  that  though 
the  attack  has  been  made  upon  the  crops  of  one  State,  it  is  just  the 
same  as  if  an  invading  army  had  come  from  the  populous  countries  of 
the  old  world  to  assault  the  integrity  of  the  great  commonwealth  of 
Louisiana,  and  the  great  army  of  the  Nation  should  be  extended  to 
protect  and  avenge  the  injury.  We  have  been  victorious  in  every  struggle 
we  have  had.  This  great  country,  with  its  enormous  wealth,  with  its 
great  power,  has  hitherto  been  victorious  upon  every  battle  field ;  shall 
it  go  down  through  history  that  we  have  been  whipped  by  a  boll  weevil? 
(applause  and  cries  of  "never").  I  think  that  is  the  true  answer.  Never. 
In  this  conflict,  although  it  is  with  a  hidden  enemy,  elusive  and  uneasy 
of  attack,  we  shall  yet  be  victorious,  and  discover  some  means  of  ex- 
terminating the  boll  weevil.  Therefore,  it  seems  to  me  that  the  people  of 
Louisiana  and  the  people  of  Texas,  and  the  people  of  the  whole  South, 
may  rest  assured  that  whatever  legislation  is  necessary  to  carry  on  the 
work,  will  be  given  at  Washington,  and  the  necessary  fund  will  be 
appropriated.  Your  Congressmen  can  speak  more  definitely  upon  that; 
but  I  know  that  that  is  the  general  feeling,  at  least  of  the  Executive 
Department.  It  is  only  necessary  that  the  methods  should  be  conservative, 
be  clear,  and  definite,  in  order  that  they  may  be  justified  in  the  appro- 
priations made.  As  soon  as  that  can  be  determined,  I  doubt  whether 
there  is  any  doubt  but  what  the  whole  country  will  rally  forth  to  the 
help  of  the  people  that  have  thus  been  attacked. 

The  question  is  "where  should  the  battle  be  fought."  I  believe  it  is 
conclusively  shown  that  the  only  place  to  fight  the  enemy  is  where  the 
enemy  is,  and  that  would  be  in  Texas,  but  we  should  be  fortified  and 
prepared  in  the  State  of  Louisiana. 

I  was  greatly  pleased  this  morning,  I  might  say  I  was  gratified  at  the 
conservative  tone  of  the  paper  of  Professor  Morgan.  His  suggestions 
were  wise,  and  they  were  timely.  A  great  deal  can  be  done  along  those 
lines.  It  has  been  demonstrated — certain  things  have  been  demonstrated 
for  us ;  and  should  not  be  given  up.  The  lines  of  work  it  seems  to 
me,  particularly  to  be  done  immediately  are  those  first  of  Entomologists. 
Not  one,  but  a  regiment  of  them,  want  to  be  turned  loose  on  the  fields, 
to  find  out  not  only  the  habits  of  the  boll  weevil,  but  also,  while  we  are 
about  it,  let  us  wipe  out  every  pest  that  troubles  the  cotton  plant.  Get 
at  the  boll  worm,  and  the  catterpillar  and  everything  else  that  tends 
to  injure  the  cotton  crop.  Let  us  exterminate  him,  and  not  let  the  war 
run  on  forever. 

Now,  if  it  be  possible,  extend  further  the  process  of  investigation,  for 
the  boll  weevil  may  somewhat  change  his  habits.  He  is  a  pretty  sharp 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOLL  WEEVIL  CONVENTION.  19 

little  fellow,  and  he  may  change  his  habits  somewhat;  and  it  may  be  that 
in  the  future  we  may  disco -/er  some  method  of  extermiantion  or  pre- 
vention which  at  present  does  not  occur  to  us.  There  are  a  great  many'lines 
of  investigation  which  may  be  followed.  It  seems  that  he  does  not  eat, 
in  his  early  stages,  anything  but  a  square;  and  that  he  particularly  likes 
it  when  it  is  tender.  Now,  1  think  it  has  been  demonstrated  that  he 
likes  the  squares  of  some  cotton  better  than  he  likes  it  of  others.  You 
may  find  after  a  while  a  class  of  plants  that  has  resisted  him,  or  that  he 
has  left  for  some  reason.  Now,  if  it  were  possible  to  produce  a  class  of 
cotton  that  would  be  boll  weevil  resistant  then  you  would  have  succeeded. 
If  you  can  inject  into  the  plant,  something  that  would  change 
the  flavor  of  it,  so  he  would  not  like  it,  then  you  would  have  accom- 
plished the  whole  thing.  If  you  can  get  a  "chaw"  of  tobacco,  at  the 
base  of  the  square,  for  instance,  he  might  turn  away  in  utter  disgust. 
i  am  merely  making  these  statements  in  the  way  of  suggestions.  There 
are  possibilities,  and  I  am  in  favor,  personally,  of  a  large  appropriation, 
to  the  entomological  department,  not  only  for  a  thousand  acres,  but  ten 
thousand  if  necessary;  and  that  work  should  be  carried  on  in  Louisiana, 
as  well  as  in  Texas,  so  that  you  are  ready  for  the  boll  weevil,  when  he 
comes. 

Then  in  the  line  of  demonstration  farms.  I  noticed  this  morning,  what 
was  said  concerning  the  difficulty  of  getting  people  to  take  hold.  That 
is  a  difficulty  everywhere.  If  the  people  had  followed  the  teachings  of 
your  great  institutions  here,  your  agricultural  schools,  and  your  eminent 
professors,  we  would  be  far  in  advance  of  what  we  are  in  this  great  com- 
monwealth of  Louisiana.  But  the  trouble  is  to  get  the  people  to  adopt 
these  methods. 

But,  after  thinking  this  matter  over,  almost  in  despair,  we  undertook  a 
year  ago,  last  spring,  some  demonstrations,  and  I  will  give  you  the  results 
of  one  of  them,  to  show  you  that  we  can  get  the  people  to  take  hold  and 
adopt  these  modern  methods,  if  we  undertake  it  in  a  proper  way.  Last 
winter  the  people  along  the  Texas  and  Midland  R.  R.,  at  Terrell,  sent  a 
request  to  me,  to  organize  a  demonstration  farm  out  there.  I  replied  that 
I  could  not  do  it,  that  I  had  hoped  to  do  so  but  that  I  had  no  funds.  They 
then  wrote  to  Washington,  and  interested  the  Department  of  Agriculture. 
The  Secretary  said  I  had  better  go  up  there  and  see.  I  went  up  there ; 
a  meeting  was  called,  with  an  attendance  perhaps  as  large  as  this  one;  I 
said :  in  the  first  place,  gentlemen,  I  may  talk  to  you  about  organizing  a 
demonstration  farm,  but  I  have  no  money.  They  replied  "we  do  not 
want  any  money.  We  do  not  need  any  help.  As  American  citizens,  we 
can  help  ourselves.  All  we  want  is  that  you  should  put  it  under  the  con- 
trol of  the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture,  and  we  will  do  the 
rest."  I  said :  "Very  well,  I  will  formulate  the  plan.  Give  me  six  of  your 
best  farmers  as  an  Advisory  Committee,  because  the  Department  of  Agri- 


2O  PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOLL  WEEVIL  CONVENTION. 

culture  don't  know  everything.  There  is  a  great  deal  of  wisdom  among 
the  good  farmers,  and  I  want  all  that  you  know  about  your  soil,  your 
climatic  conditions,  what  has  occurred  in  the  history  of  your  agriculture 
thus  far.  Select  one  of  your  best  farmers  to  carry  on  these  experiments, 
or  these  demonstrations.  "They  did  so."  "Now,"  I  continued,  "I  want  a 
guarantee  fund,  and  we  will  make  a  contract  with  this  farmer,  who  is  fol- 
lowing my  instructions,  that  if  he  loses  any  money,  you  citizens  guarantee 
to  make  it  good."  Several  farmers,  among  them  I  remember  Major 
Brenan  who,  as  you  know  is  one  of  the  great  farmers  of  Texas,  with  a 
farm  of  five  thousand  acres  just  outside  of  the  State;  he  rose,  and  said: 
"We  will  raise  the  money."  In  fifteen  minutes,  they  subscribed  five  hun- 
dred dollars.  It  was  all  settled  that  afternoon.  We  put  the  farm  on  its 
feet,  and  I  left.  We  went  through  the  year.  I  went  there  perhaps  half  a 
dozen  times.  At  the  close  of  the  year  I  said  to  Mr.  Walter  C.  Porter,  the 
man  who  carried  on  the  agricultural  experiments  or  demonstrations :  "How 
much  do  these  gentlemen  owe  you?  How  large  an  amount 
do  they  owe  you?"  "They  do  not  owe  me  anything,"  he  said; 
"I  made  $700.00  more  than  I  would  have  made  in  the  ordinary 
way.  I  do  not  want  anything  of  the  people."  It  cost  the  people,  not  a 
cent,  that  demonstration;  and  the  farmer  who  carried  it  on  made  money. 
He  paid  all  expenses.  The  Government  paid  nothing;  the  people  paid 
nothing;  and  that  was  the  result. 

Now  farmers  saw  that  from  day  to  day.  Delegation  after  delegation 
visited  it.  A  committee  from  the  Congressional  District  visited  it,  on  one 
occasion.  The  result  was  that  the  farmers  almost  without  exception  came 
to  me  and  said :  "We  are  going  to  put  our  farms  on  the  same  plan."  Mr. 
Brenan  said :  "My  5000  acres  go  on  the  same  plan,  next  year."  Mr.  Har- 
rison and  other  prominent  farmers  said :  "I  am  going  under  the  same 
plan."  This  same  man,  Mr.  Porter,  has  800  acres;  he  puts  300  acres  in  cot- 
ton next  year  on  the  same  plan.  They  have  all  ordered  their  fertilizers, 
and  that  county  is  completely  organized.  It  had  more  effect  than  that. 
It  interested  the  President  of  the  road,  Mr.  Green,  and  he  said  he  would 
take  a  little  dip  into  it.  They  wrote  me  that  at  first  he  thought  he  would 
take  50  acres,  but  before  he  got  through,  he  bought  four  hundred  acres ; 
and  before  he  was  through,  he  had  given  orders  to  the  extent  of  $10,000, 
and  he  was  to  put  the  best  demonstration  farms  in  the  South;  the 
best  in  operation  there,  as  an  example  of  what  the  people  can  do.  He 
made  inquiries  of  me,  and  I  went  there.  "Well,"  he  said:  "you  have  got 
me  into  this,  and  now  you  must  stay  by  me."  So  I  stayed  there  a  while, 
and  we  laid  out  the  plan  of  his  farm.  The  county  below  it  and  the 
county  above  it  sent  a  delegation  when  I  was  there  last  spring,  and  they 
organized  60  farms  on  a  small  scale. 

Now,  that  shows  that  the  people  will  take  hold,  if  you  prove  to  them 
that  it  is  their  experiment.  They  put  up  the  money.  They  furnish  the 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOLL  WEEVIL  CONVENTION.  21 

experience;  they  did  the  whole  thing.  Now,  I  think  that  is  apt  to  take 
hold  of  the  people,  and  it  is  along  such  lines,  that  I  hope  to  see  suitable 
legislation  and  appropriations  will  be  made ;  to  demonstrate  that  if  we  do 
not  have  the  boll  weevil,  still  we  are  to  make  50  per  cent,  more  cotton 
than  we  have  been  making-.  We  will  develop  a  better  class  of  farmers. 
It  does  not  hurt  anyway. 

Now,  it  is  not  for  me  to  say  anything  about  legislation.  You  have 
your  Congressmen  here.  They  understand  all  the  ins  and  outs  of  ihat 
But  if  I  had  my  way  about  it,  I  would  put  money  into  the  hands  of  those 
entomologists,  enough  to  do  a  great  deal  more  work  than  they  have  been 
able  to  do.  I  would  take  up  possibly  some  lines  that  Professor  Morgan 
spoke  of.  If  the  boll  weevil  should  attack  Louisiana,  destroy  the  fields, 
and  pay  for  them,  if  necessary.  Then  I  would  put  money  into  demon- 
stration plants,  so  that  these  methods  could  be  brought  to  the  attention  of 
the  people  in  every  locality.  There  is  no  use  in  spending  millions  on  the 
great  cotton  agriculture,  to  have  it  hanging  over  our  heads.  The  Ameri- 
can people  should  adopt  these  methods.  I  want  to  see  these  things 
adopted,  and  adopted  right  off,  in  order  that  American  Agriculture,  which 
is  now  to  the  front,  may  be  brought  to  the  front  still  more. 

There  is  one  point  I  want  to  speak  of.  There  has  been  a  great  deal 
said  about  Germany  and  other  nations  trying  to  produce  cotton.  It  has 
been  my  fortune  to 'travel  over  the  world,  and  to  observe  the  cotton 
plant.;  and  I  tell  you  that  America  is  going  to  control  the  cotton  of  the 
world,  I  visited  the  cotton  fields  of  Japan,  and  the  agriculture  there  is 
a  perfect  failure.  I  visited  the  cotton  fields  of  China.  They  undertook 
it  there,  and  put  up  some  cotton  mills,  and  said  with  their  cheap  labor: 
"We  can  manufacture  cheaper  than  Americans,  we  can  control  the  cotton 
market."  The  last  time  I  was  there,  I  visited  Shanghai  four  times — the 
last  time  I  was  there,  I  said  to  a  friend.  "What  is  the  status  of  the  cotton 
mills  now  at  Shanghai?"  He  said:  "I  cannot  tell;  they  may  have  ?one 
into  bankruptcy  again;  they  just  came  out  of  one  bankruptcy  a  short  time 
ago."  There  are  reasons  why,  with  their  cheap  labor,  they  cannot  com- 
pete with  us.  The  chairman  regards  any  machine  as  a  way  to  get  a  rake- 
off.  The  great  Chinaman,  Tong  Woo,  Vice-Chancellor  of  two  of  the 
upper  provinces,  has  steel  and  iron  mills.  I  enquired  into  that,  and  found 
out  that  it  costs  them  more  to  make  a  ton  of  steel,  with  the  best  machin- 
ery, than  to  lay  thirteen  tons  of  American  steel  over  there.  Why?  Be- 
cause instead  of  using  the  machinery  to  save  labor  and  reduce  expenses, 
he  regards  it  as  a  nice  thing  to  get  a  rake  off.  He  charges  more  to  the 
operator,  because  the  machine  can  do  more.  A  Chinaman  looks  on  the 
other  side  of  the  world,  and  sees  things  exactly  opposite  to  the  way  we 
do.  Now,  that  is  just  the  way  with  cotton.  You  cannot  get  a  Chinaman 
to  chop  out  his  cotton.  "Why,"  he  says,  "here  are  two  stalks.  Two  stalks 


22  PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOLL  WEEVIL  CONVENTION. 

will  bring  a  heap  more  than  one."  I  found  the  cotton  averaging  about  two 
inches  apart,  on  their  fertile  lands,  the  bottom  lands  of  the  Yang  Tse 
River,  averaging  about  twenty  inches  high.  That  is  a  quality  of  cotton 
worth  about  two  cents  below  our  cotton. 

Now,  it  is  the  same  way  in  India.  They  do  not  understand  our  methods. 
We  cannot  realixe  how  vastly  superior  the  dullest  of  the  Americans  is,  to 
the  millions  on  the  other  side  of  the  world.  And  how  it  is  impossible  for 
them  to  understand  our  methods.  It  will  take  them  150  years  to  get  to 
do  things  as  we  do  them.  They  were  born  and  raised  that  way.  I  know 
something  about  it,  on  the  part  of  the  colored  men ;  for  the  statistics  show 
all  over  the  South,  the  negro  raises  less  cptton  per  acre,  than  the  white 
man,  and  when  the  boll  weevil  comes,  I  don't  know  whether  he  will  raise 
any  at  all. 

Therefore,  I  say  that  great  possibilities  are  before  us.  The  demand  for 
our  cotton  goods  and  cotton  product  has  been  increasing  more  rnpidly 
than  population;  and  if  the  boll  weevil  does  not  interfere,  we  will  con- 
tinue to  supply  the  growing  demands  of  the  whole  world.  We  must  ex- 
terminate, or  surround  or  barricade,  or  degenerate  the  boll  weevil  in  some 
way,  and  I  believe  it  will  be  done. 

Thereupon  the  Chairman  announced  that  communications  would  be  read, 
and  the  Secretary  read  the  following  letters  from  the  Secretary  of  Agri- 
culture, to-wit: 

ist.    Letter  to  Hon.  W.  W.  Heard,  as  follows: 

DEPARTMENT  OF  AGRICULTURE, 
OFFICE  OF  THE  SECRETARY, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C,  November  20,  1903. 
HON.  W.  W.  HEARD, 

Governor  of  Louisiana,  Baton  Rouge,  Louisiana. 
My  Dear  Sir : 

I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  courteous  letter  of 
the  I7th  instant,  inviting  me  to  attend  the  Boll  Weevil  Convention  called 
to  meet  in  New  Orleans,  on  November  30.  I  regret  exceedingly  that  pub- 
lic duties  will  prevent  me  from  being  present,  but  I  will  see  to  it  that  the 
Department  is  represented  by  some  of  our  people  who  are  well  informed 
regarding  the  situation. 

We  have  been  carefully  deliberating  here,  in  conjunction  with  members 
of  Congress  from  the  southwest,  especially  from  Texas,  what  steps  it  will 
be  wise  to  take  and  what  it  will  be  wise  to  ask  Congress  for.  We  have 
a  lively  interest  in  the  matter,  and  will  do  everything  in  our  power  to 
ameliorate  conditions,  both  in  Texas  and  with  regard  to  any  possible  in- 
vasion of  Louisiana  and  States  further  east. 
I  have  the  honor  to  be,  Sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

JAMES  WILSON,  Secretary. 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOLL  WEEVIL  CONVENTION.  23 

2nd.     Letter  to  Prof  W.  C.  Stubbs,  as  follows : 

DEPARTMENT  OF  AGRICULTURE, 
OFFICE  OF  THE  SECRETARY, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C,  November  19,  1903 

DR.  W.  C.  STUBBS, 

Louisiana  Experiment   Station,   Audubon  Park,  New   Orleans,  La. 
Dear  Friend: 

I  have  your  favor  of  the  isth,  asking  me  to  attend  the  Governor  of 
Louisiana's  called  meeting  of  farmers  and  planters,  to  discuss  the  boll 
weevil  problem,  in  New  Orleans  on  November  30.  Upon  my  return  to 
Washington,  J  asked  the  Texas  delegation  to  come  to  my  office  and  discuss 
the  situation  regarding  this  insect.  They  did  so,  and  have  been  here  re- 
peatedly. We  are  beginning  to  see  alike ;  that  is,  to  conclude  with  regard 
to  some  things  that  may  be  done.  I  am  preparing  a  statement  of  the 
situation  for  insertion  in  my  annual  report,  and  shall  urge  upon  Congress 
to  do  its  part  in  the  matter.  I  regret  that  I  shall  not  be  able  to  go  to  New 
Orleans  and  attend  your  convention  on  the  30th,  because  I  am  booked  for 
a  trip  among  the  sugar-beet  men  of  Michigan  at  that  very  time.  But  you 
can  depend  upon  this  Department's  doing  everything  in  its  power  to  help 
you  meet  this  emergency. 

Very  truly  yours, 

JAMES  WILSON,  Secretary. 

Mr.  Phanor  Brazeale,  of  Natchitoches,  La.,  Congressman  from  the 
Fourth  District  of  Louisiana,  spoke  as  follows: 

Mr.  Chairman  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Convention.  The  interest  in  this 
subject  of  course  is  well  known  to  all.  And  more  especially,  perhaps,  is 
my  district  interested  than  any  other  portion  of  Louisiana,  on  account  of 
its  proximity  to  the  invaded  District  of  Texas. 

The  aspect  of  the  question  that  I  am  called  upon  to  discuss  is  one  I 
have  given  some  thought  and  some  attention  to,  in  conjunction  with  the 
other  members  of  the  Louisiana  delegation.  The  question  is  one  de- 
cidedly of  national  importance.  It  is  a  national  question. 

Of  course  the  State  is  interested  directly  in  the  matter,  but  only  to  a 
limited  extent,  when  viewed  from  the  national  aspect.  There  is  not  a 
man,  I  venture  to  say,  in  this  audience,  than  can  sit  down,  and  in  an  hour's 
time  conceive  all  the  immense  importance  of  the  great  industry  which  is 
threatened  with  an  attack  by  this  great  danger;  starting  from 'the  raw 
material,  the  cotton  itself,  and  following  it  out  in  its  various  manufac- 
tured characteristics,  and  in  the  cotton  seed,  and  its  various  by-products, 
and  foot  up  the  total  product  in  his  mind,  and  the  number  of  people 
directly  interested  in  the  production  of  cotton.  Hence  it  has  a  nationaF 
aspect.  The  nation  is  directly  interested  in  preserving  and  in  developing 


24  PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOLL  WEEVIL  CONVENTION. 

to  the  fullest  extent  that  industry.  Another  national  aspect  which  the 
matter  has,  is  the  supremacy  that  this  nation  enjoys  in  the  cotton  world. 
We  ship  more  cotton,  export  more  cotton,  than  any  other  country,  and 
we  control  the  cotton  market  and  the  cotton  world.  Hence  it  is  a 
national  question ;  and  one  with  which  we  can  go  to  the  National  Con- 
gress, as  some  gentleman  expressed  here  this  morning,  and  ask  for  assist- 
ance without  placing  ourselves  in  the  attitude  of  mendicants;  in  connec- 
tion with  which  we  can  appeal  to  them  as  a  nation  for  the  benefit  of  the 
nation. 

With  that  view  of  the  matter,  in  the  early  days  of  the  present  extraordi- 
nary session  of  Congress,  that  is,  about  two  weeks  ago,  the  Texas  delega- 
tion, the  Louisiana  delegation,  the  Arkansas  delegation,  held  a  meeting. 
That  conference  of  the  delegation  of  these  three  States  was  presided  over 
by  Col.  Robertson,  Congressman  from  the  Sixth  District  of  Louisiana,  and 
a  member  from  Texas  was  selected  as  Secretary.  The  result  of  that  con- 
ference was  the  adoption  of  a  resolution  appointing  three  members  from 
each  of  the  cotton  .growing  States,  to  call  upon  the  President  of  the  United 
States  and  invoke  his  interest  in  this  question,  the  suppression  of  the  boll 
weevil.  It  adopted  also  a  memorial  to  be  presented  to  him  and  the  Secre- 
tary of  Agriculture  and  the  Congress,  embracing  the  opinions  of  that  con- 
ference as  to  what  should  be  done  by  the  Congress  in  the  matter  of  legis- 
lation, intended  to  suppress,  minimize,  and  if  possible,  eradicate  this  evil. 
I  had  the  honor  of  being  one  of  the  three  selected  from  the  Louisiana 
delegation,  together  with  Mr.  Pujo  and  Mr.  Ransdell.  That  resolution, 
that  memorial  embraced  two  main  features.  Gentlemen,  I  want  to  say 
that- the  matter  has  received  a  great  deal  of  thought  by  the  members  in 
charge  of  it,  who  prepared  it,  after  consultation  and  correspondence  with 
agricultural  departments,  with  scientists,  and  after  a  careful  examination 
of  the  Texas  situation,  with  the  report  of  the  agricultural  department 
there  and  the  experimental  station;  and  these  two  main  features  were 
suggested :  First.  That  the  Government  of  the  United  States  should  ap- 
point a  Commission,  composed  of  five  members,  two  of  whom  should  be 
farmers,  from  the  invaded  district  of  Texas,  one  member  should  be  a 
practical  farmer  from  Louisiana,  one  member  should  be  from  the  Bureau 
of  Plant  Industry,  of  the  Government,  a  scientific  man,  the  other  member 
should  be  a  man  connected  with  the  entomological  department  of  the 
agricultural  department.  Second.  A  fund  of,  say,  $500,000.00  should  be 
placed  at  their  disposal  for  use  in  experimenting  along  the  lines  of  sup- 
pression or  eradication  of  the  pest. 

We  called  upon  Mr.  Wilson,  the  Secretary  of  Agriculture,  and  he 
readily  approved  of  these  two  main  features.  Now,  gentlemen,  the  de- 
tails have  not  been  mapped  out.  They  were  still,  when  I  left  Washing- 
Ion,  being  consulted  over  by  Mr.  Wilson,  with  members  of  this  conference 
held  by  members  of  cotton  growing  states.  It  is  impossible  at  this  time 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOLL  WEEVIL  CONVENTION.  25 

to  outline  what  these  details  would  be.  Mr.  Wilson  expressed  himself  with 
the  utmost  candor,  said  he  would  assist  us  as  much  as  he  possibly  could, 
and  recommend  to  the  President  and  to  Congress,  in  his  annual  report,, 
the  enactment  of  all  necessary  legislation,  and  otherwise  do  everything 
in  the  power  of  the  Department  to  suppress  this  evil.  A  committee  of  us 
appointed  by  this  Conference  called  upon  the  President  of  the  United 
States.  He  received  us  with  the  utmost  cordiality.  We  explained  to  him 
the  situation;  we  explained  the  immense  national  importance  of  the  mat- 
ter; the  threat  of  immense  danger  to  the  vast  interests  of  this  country. 

Let  me  impress  you  with  this  idea,  so  far  as  our  efforts  in  the  National 
Congress  are  concerned.  We  do  not  expect  to  base  our  demands  to  Con- 
gress upon  the  local  character  of  the  danger.  We  know,  individually  and 
personally,  how  much  depends  upon  this  matter,  for  the  people  of  this 
State;  but  in  order  to  impress  Congress,  we  look  upon  it  as  a  national 
question,  as  a  threatened  national  calamity;  and  from  that  standpoint,  I 
hope  that  this  Convention  will  straighten  our  hands  in  the  shape  of  their 
resolutions  to-day. 

Now,  the  President  appreciated  that  view  of  the  question.  He  assured 
us  that  he  would  favor  any  legislation,  on  a  line  looking  to  the  suppres- 
sion of  the  danger,  and  of  its  ultimate  eradication.  Not  satisfied  with  that,, 
we  asked  him  to  put  an  expression  of  his  sentiments  and  his  attitude  on 
this  question  in  his  message  to  Congress,  so  that,  when  the  fight  upon  the 
floor  of  Congress  came  up,  we  could  refer  to  him  as  the  Chief  Executive 
of  this  great  nation,  and  pick  up  his  message  to  Congress  and  say,  that  he 
understood  and  appreciated  this  danger,  and  urged  appropriate  legislation 
to  suppress  it.  He  very  cheerfully  and  cordially  agreed  to  recommend 
it  in  his  message,  but  said  he  could  not  give  it  an  extended  notice,  because 
of  the  great  number  of  other  interests  of  perhaps  equal  importance,  that 
he  would  have  to  embrace  in  his  message;  but  he  said  he  would  give 
them  a  clear  cut  expression  as  to  his  sentiments  upon  the  question.  Not 
satisfied  with  that,  he  asked  Mr.  Burgess  and  myself  (however,  as  much 
interested  as  I  was,  and  as  zealous  in  the  matter  as  I  am  or  was,  Mr. 
Ransdell  took  my  place,  because  I  could  not  attend  to  it  right  there)  ; 
the  President  asked  us  would  we  serve  as  his  messengers  to  the  Secretary 
of  Agriculture,  said  that  he  wanted  to  impress  upon  the  Secretary  of 
Agriculture  his  personal  views  on  the  subject,  and  that  if  we  would  do 
him  the  honor  to  serve  as  his  messengers,  he  would  write  to  the  Secre- 
tary. And  he  did  right  there  and  then,  requesting  the  Secretary  to  pre- 
pare such  data  and  such  a  message  as  the  Secretary  would  be  justified  in 
doing,  that  he  might  put  them  in  his  message  to  Congress.  We  went 
down,  at  least  Mr.  Ransdell  and  Mr.  Burgess  went  down  to  see  Mr. 
Wilson,  with  that  letter  from  the  President,  and  they  told  me,  when  they 
returned,  that  Mr.  Wilson  was  then  at  work  and  had  conferred  with  them 
several  times,  upon  the  question  of  the  language  to  be  used  by  the  Presi- 


26  PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOLL  WEEVIL  CONVENTION. 

dent  in  his  message.  I  have  no  doubt,  from  my  talk  with  the  Secretary 
of  Agriculture,  and  with  the  President,  that  that  message  will  contain 
a  very  earnest  request  to  the  Congress,  advice  to  the  Congress,  to  adopt 
legislation  that  will  look  to  help  a  long  ways  towards  suppressing  this  evil, 
language  containing  this  national  aspect  of  the  question,  as  it  is  now  pre- 
sented and  is  now  in  existence. 

Mr.  Burgess,  I  see  by  the  papers,  has  introduced  a  bill  in  Congress,  em- 
bracing this  idea,  this  present  plan,  as  mapped  out  by  the  Secretary  of 
Agriculture;  but,  gentlemen,  please  don't  consider  that  that  fight  is  won. 
A  fight  upon  the  floor  of  Congress,  for  any  measure,  is  never  won,  until 
it  has  finally  received  the  President's  signature.  The  Louisiana  delega- 
tion, the  Texas  delegation,  the  Arkansas  delegation,  the  Mississippi  dele- 
gation, all  of  the  cotton  growing  States  are  earnest  and  zealous,  and  will 
be  in  their  efforts  to  accomplish  legislation  by  the  Congress  along  those 
lines;  but  I  tell  you  that  we  can  be  sustained  and  helped  out,  more  than 
you  can  well  imagine,  when  we  are  backed  by  the  unanimous  opinion  and 
zealous  efforts  of  our  people  at  home.  It  is  always  a  source  of  great  en- 
couragement to  a  Congressman,  when  he  takes  the  floor  to  speak  upon 
any  question,  to  know  that  his  people  are  in  full  accord  with  him,  and  by 
their  good  wishes,  and  their  efforts,  are  co-operating  with  him  at  home. 
So  I  ask  you  to-day,  when  you  pass  your  resolutions,  to  make  them 
strong,  make  them  broad,  make  them  liberal,  don't  attempt  to  localize  this 
trouble.  Let  us  go  there  on  something  from  which  we  can  appeal  to  the 
whole  nation,  as  the  people  of  Massachusetts  appealed  to  us,  in  the  last 
Congress,  in  the  57th  Congress,  with  a  matter  in  my  mind,  identical  with 
this  one  in  character,  and  a  bill  that  I  voted  for,  readily,  cheerfully,  gladly. 

They  came  to  us  with  a  proposition  to  appropriate  $3000,000.00,  placing 
it  at  the  disposal  of  the  Secretary  of  Agriculture,  to  stamp  out,  suppress 
and  eradicate  the  foot  and  mouth  disease  of  the  cattle,  then  existing  in 
Massachusetts.  Why  they  had  no  trouble ;  no  effort  was  made  hardly ; 
we  all  readily  saw  the  national  character  of  the  question,  and  we  voted 
for  the  appropriation ;  and  I  am  glad  to  say  that  the  report  from  the  Agri- 
cultural Department  shows  that  only  $150,000.00  of  that  was  used,  leaving 
a  balance  of  the  same  amount,  which  Secretary  Wilson  intimated  would 
still  remain  in  his  hands,  and  might  be  used  for  this  purpose  in  case  of  an 
emergency  So,  I  say,  we  can  appeal  to  those  people  from  that  standpoint. 
and  we  can  go  to  New  England  showing  the  great  interest  we  all  have, 
as  a  nation,  in  the  preservation  of  the  supremacy  of  the  cotton  of  this 
country,  in  the  cotton  market  of  the  world.  I  have  no  doubt  that  we  can 
accomplish  something;  we  will  do  something  that  will  help  to  eradicate 
this  evil.  In  the  meantime,  there  must  be  local  legislation  that  will  per- 
mit our  State  Government  to  co-operate  with  the  national  government,  in 
coping  with  this  national  trouble,  in  every  way. 

Now,  I  have  not  looked  far  enough  into  the  laws  now  existing,  to  know 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOLL  WEEVIL  CONVENTION.  2J 

whether  the  government  has  sufficient  power  to  do  that.  I  am  rather  im- 
pressed from  my  casual  examination  of  the  law,  that  additional  legisla- 
tion must  be  passed  to  enable  your  government  to  cope,  in  the  fullest  ex- 
tent, with  the  national  trouble. 

If  I  am  not  trying  you,  gentlemen,  I  would  like  to  give  you,  a  few  sug- 
gestions, not  as  coming  from  myself,  but  as  the  result  of  discussions  with 
the  Secretary,  and  with  members  of  the  Texas  delegation  and  others. 
For  instance,  as  the  Secretary  said  to  me,  "I  am  a  very  strong  State  rights 
man  myself,  even  if  I  come  from  the  west,  I  am  still  with  you,  to  this 
extent  at  least,  that  you  have  the  right  to  control  yourself" ;  but  afterwards 
he  said:  "There  should  be  power  lodged  in  your  Governor  to  take  up 
with  us,  in  necessary  cases,  the  right  of  quarantine,  if  you  have  not  got  it 
already ;  you  should  have  the  right  to  expropriate,  if  you  have  any  need  of 
it.  It  may  be  necessary  to  burn  up  some  fields.  We  are  still  in  an  ex- 
perimental stage; 'we  do  not  know  what  to  do  with  this  bug.  We  are  now 
trying  to  find  something  out  about  it.  It  may  be  necessary  to  do  some 
extraordinary  thing.  So  it  is  necessary  that  your  Governor  shall  co- 
operate with  us,  to  the  fullest  extent. 

So,  gentlemen,  it  seems  to  me  if  the  citizens  of  this  country,  the 
tax-payers  to  a  man,  are  interested  in  this  thing,  that  this  Convention  re- 
commend the  calling  together  of  the  Legislature  as  soon  as  possible  as 
soon  as  practicable.  But  let  not  there  be  anything  in  that  legislation  to 
commit  you  to  any  particular  method  or  plan,  for  supressmg  that  bug,  but 
vest  in  your  Governor  the  power  to  take  up  this  matter,  with  sufficient 
funds  at  his  disposal,  to  co-operate  with  the  Government  of  the  United 
States,  as  occasion  may  require,  in  the  matter  of  suppressing  or  preventing 
this  weevil  from  coming  into  this  territory.  I  should  say  this  would  be 
better  than  to  confine  yourself  to  any  particular  line  or  any  particular 
thing,  than  to  say  that  this  was  the  best  method,  or  that  was  the  best 
method.  But  invest  him  with  the  power  to  create  a  Board  to  take  charge 
of  the  matter,  composed  of  practical  men,  and  of  scientific  men,  to  meet 
the  emergencies  as  they  may  arise. 

The  scientist  may  say:  "Here  is  a  good  remedy  to  get  rid  of  that  bug 
in  this  locality;  here  is  a  good  method  to  get  rid  of  him  in  that  locality." 
Follow  his  instructions.  Do  what  he  says.  Do  all  that  you  can  to  reach 
a  conclusion  in  the  premises,  and  to  be  able  to  say  positively,  "this  is  the 
remedy  for  the  evil."  I  take  it  for  granted  from  what  I  read,  from  the 
scientific  world,  that  it  may  take  several  years  before  that  remedy  is 
found;  but  I.  am  willing  to  pledge  my  faith  in  the  ability  of  the  Ameri- 
can people,  to  find  a  remedy  for  any  evil,  social,  natural  or  otherwise,  that 
may  arise.  I  have  no  hesitancy  in  saying  that  in  these  various  experi- 
ments which  you  may  make,  you  will  fritter  away  some  of  the  people's 
money.  It  is  natural  to  presume  that;  but  every  dollar  that  you  spend 


28  PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOLL   WEEVIL  CONVENTION. 

that  way,  every  dollar  that  you  throw  away  in  that  way,  will  come  back  a 
thousand  fold  when  you  find  that  remedy. 

I  pledge  you  now  the  zealous  efforts  of  the  several  members  of  Congress 
from  your  State.  Every  single  one,  from  the  dean  of  the  delegation, 
Colonel  Robertson,  down  to  Mr.  Pujo,  the  youngest  in  service,  are  alive  to 
the  situation.  They  appreciate  and  understand  the  terrible  menace  to  the 
individual  State  of  Louisiana;  and  everything  we  can  do,  you  can  rest 
assured  will  be  done,  in  the  halls  of  Congress,  on  every  occasion,  in  time 
and  out  of  time,  to  accomplish  the  end  of  this  great  evil,  menacing  the 
individual  State  as  well  as  the  nation,  so  that  it  shall  be  finally  stamped 
out  and  rendered  inoffensive. 

The  President.  The  next  gentleman  on  the  program  has  expressed  his 
inability  to  be  present,  Mr.  Ransdell  of  the  Fifth  Congressional  District; 
but  says  that  he  is  with  you,  heart  and  soul,  and  will  do  whatever  he  can 
to  help  on  the  work.  Secretary  will  please  read  Mr.  R's.",  letter. 

LAKE  PROVIDENCE,  LA.,  Nov.  26,  1903. 
DR.  WM.  C.  STUBBS, 

New  Orleans,  La. 
Dear  Sir: 

Yours  of  the  25th  inviting  me  to  attend  the  Boll  Weevil  Convention, 
and  to  supplement  the  remarks  of  Secretary  Wilson  to  hand.  I  thank 
you  very  much  for  the  honor,  and  should  gladly  attend  as  an  interested 
listener  but  wil*  be  detained  here  by  important  private  business  which 
cannot  be  postponed.  I  am  with  you  heart  and  soul  in  the  great  work  of 
fighting  this  terrible  pest,  and  you  can  command  my  services  at  all  times 
and  places. 

With  best  wishes  for  the  good  cause,  and  kindest  personal  regards, 
I  am,  Yours,  &c., 

Jos.  E.  RANSDEIL. 

We  have  with  us,  Col.  Robertson,  member  from  the  Sixth  Congres- 
sional District;  and  I  hope  the  gentleman  will  be  kind  enough  to  address 
this  Convention  in  the  place  of  Mr.  Ransdell. 

ADDRESS  OF  COL,  SAMUEL  M.  ROBERTSON. 

Mr.  Chairman  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Convention :  It  gives  me  pleasure 
to  comply  with  the  request  of  your  distinguished  Chairman. 

Many  years  ago,  1  was  Professor  of  Natural  History  in  the  University 
of  Louisiana,  I  studied  plants,  bugs,  men  and  animals,  until  I  became  so 
filled  with  them  that  I  became  candidate  for  Congress  from  Professorship 
of  that  Uunversity. 

I  was  the  Chairman  of  a  Convention  in  Washington,  a  few  days  ago. 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOLL  WEEVIL  CONVENTION.  2Q 

which  met  and  considered  the  question  of  the  fight  in  which  you  are  now 
engaged,  that  is  the  suppression  of  the  boll  weevil  in  the  Southern  States. 
In  that  meeting  were  the  Congressmen  from  the  States  of  Alabama, 
Mississppi,  Arkansas,  Texas,  North  and  South  Carolina,  Georgia,  Ten- 
nessee and  Louisiana  ?  I  appointed  a  Committee  in  accordance  with  a 
resolution  passed  at  that  time,  composed  of  three  members  from  each  of 
these  States,  who  called  upon  the  President  of  the  United  States,  and  who 
earnestly  solicited  his  co-operation  in  the  fight  that  we  are  now  engaged 
in.  After  the  meeting  at  the  White  House,  with  this  Committee,  headed 
by  the  distinguished  and  venerable  member  from  Alabama,  (Mr.  Bank- 
head)  the  President  stated  that  he  would  endorse,  in  his  message,  any 
recommendation  made  by  the  Secretary  of  Agriculture.  The  Secretary 
of  Agriculture,  who  had  already  pledged  his  assistance,  sat  down,  at  that 
moment,  and  in  presence  of  the  Committee,  wrote  out  what  the  President 
of  the  United  States  should  incorporate,  on  the  subject,  in  his  message  to 
Congress. 

I  would  like  to  call  your  attention,  gentlemen,  to  one  or  two  of  the 
statements  which  were  presented  by  the  Louisiana  delegation  to  Congress 
a  few  days  ago,  printed  in  the  Congressional  Record  on  the  ninth  day  of 
this  month ;  which  proclaim  to  the  people  of  the  United  States,  as  far  as 
possible,  the  great  importance  of  the  cotton  industry  to  this  country.  If  I 
had  the  time  to  read  it,  I  could  show  you  how  great  and  important  it  is 
to  all  of  us.  Whatever  our  vocation,  whether  it  be  that  of  banker,  or  that 
of  a  man  who  goes  in  the  fields ;  whether  it  be  that  of  cotton-press  men, 
gin  men  or  oil  men ;  no  matter  what  our  vocation  may  be ;  this  industry 
is  of  the  vastest  and  greatest  importance  to  every  one  of  us.  The  manu- 
facturing interests  of  the  country  depend  to  an  extent  upon  it,  just  as 
much  as  the  common  negro  who  makes  a  living  for  himself  and  his  family 
by  picking  cotton.  I  say  to  you,  that  there  has  never  been  presented  to 
this  country,  a  question  ^vhich  involves  more  to  the  people  of  this  nation, 
than  this  very  one  which  you  are  considering  here  to-day,  than  the  de- 
struction of  the  boll  weevil  that  now  threatens  to  overtake  the  Southern 
States  of  this  Union. 

It  is  a  question,  my  friends,  which  may  be  viewed  from  different  stand- 
points. I  could  not  begin  to  enumerate  here  all  the  great  and  important 
questions  which  enter  into  this  fight. 

But  I  must  say  that  I  have  been  in  other  fights  of  Louisiana,  where  the 
odds  have  been  greater  than  they  are  in  this  fight.  I  have  'stood  for  the 
sugar  industry,  when  I  was  almost  cast  aside  by  my  own  party.  I  stood 
for  the  rice  industry,  when  I  saw  it  in  its  swaddling  clothes,  and  have 
stood  by  it  until  it  has  risen  to  where  it  is  to-day,  where  the  production 
almost  reaches  the  consumption,  where  the  question  of  exportation  is  a 
matter  of  securing  foreign  markets.  I  have  stood  for  our  friends  in  the 
sugar  industry,  and  stand  for  that  industry  to-day,  when  it  is  confronted 


30  PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOLL  WEEVIL  CONVENTION. 

with  the  open  market  of  Cuba,  which  threatens  the  destruction  of  that 
great  industry  of  ours.  I  have  stood  for  the  great  levee  system  which 
protects  the  alluvial  lands  of  Louisiana,  that  produce  rice  and  sugar  from 
the  Arkansas  line  to  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi  river.  We  have  stood 
in  the  minority  when  these  fights  were  going  on,  and  have  fought  until 
we  have  grown  gray. 

All  of  that,  however,  my  friends,  may  sink  into  absolute  insignificance 
to-day,  when  we  are  considering  a  problem  on  whose  solution  depends  not 
only  the  prosperity  of  the  South,  but  the  importance  of  the  commercial 
supremacy  of  the  United  States.  But  my  time  is  so  limited  that  I  must 
forbear  to  go  further  into  this  question. 

But  I  want  to  tell  you  this,  as  a  plain,  old  time,  up  and  down  Louisianian, 
we  are  fighting  for  Louisiana's  interest  wherever  they  may  be;  and  I 
pledge  you,  my  friends,  that  no  question  of  a  strict  interpretation  of  the 
Constitution  shall  ever  come  between  my  vote,  and  the  interests  of  the 
cotton  growers  of  Louisiana,  of  the  cotton  industry  of  the  United  States, 
and  of  the  welfare  of  this  great  country. 

1  never  occupied  any  other  position  except  that  of  the  best  interests  of 
my  State;  and  I  pledge  you  now,  that  in  whatever  can  be  done,  I  shall 
always  be  with  you,  God  bless  you,  I  hope  you  will  be  able  to  succeed. 
[  (Applause.) 

The  President.  The  next  thing  on  the  program  is :  "Legislation  re- 
quired to  meet  our  Emergency,"  by  Judge  John  C.  Jugh,  of  Shreveport, 
La. 

Judge  Ptigh  read  the  following: 

THE    LEGALITY    AND    REQUIRED    LEGISLATION    TO    MEET 
OUR  EMERGENCIES. 

Mr,  President  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Convention: 

The  subject  which  I  propose  to  discuss  in  some  respects  is  to  be 
covered  by  my  friend  Judge  Guion.  I  see  from  the  published  program 
that  he  is  to  consider  the  constitutionality  of  legislation  proposed  in  the 
fight  against  the  boll  weevil. 

Without  entrenching  on  the  subject  assigned  him,  I  have  thought  best  to 
submit  some  observations  on  the  legality  of  the  legislation  required  in 
the  fight  against  the  boll  weevil. 

The  police  power  of  the  State,  in  its  broadest  acceptation,  means  the 
general  power  of  the  government  to  preserve  and  promote  the  public  wel- 
fare by  prohibiting  all  things  hurtful  to  the  comfort,  safety,  and  welfare 
of  society,  and  to  establish,  promulgate  and  enforce  such  rules  and  regula- 
tions for  the  conduct  of  all  persons,  and  the  use  and  management  of  all 
property  as  may  be  conductive  to  the  public  good. 

The  authority  to  exercise  this  power  is  inherent  in  the  several  States 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOLL  WEEVIL  CONVENTION.  31 

and  is  left  with  them,  under  the  federal  constitution,  and  may  always  be 
exerted  by  the  State  legislatures  directly,  or  in  the  absence  of  any  consti- 
tutional restriction  upon  the  subject,  be  delegated  to  the  various  munici- 
palities throughout  the  State,  to  be  exercised  within  the  corporate  limits. 
The  legislature  may  also  authorize  a  particular  board  of  officers  who  have 
charge  of  a  portion  of  the  affairs  of  the  State,  or  a  city,  such  as  the 
State  Board  of  Health,  of  police,  or  other  body,  to  make  reasonable  police 
rules  and  regulations  on  the  subjects  committed  to  their  care  and  super- 
vision. 

So  the  State  Legislature  has  provided  a  State  Board  of  Health  with  full 
and  plenary  power  to  make  all  rules  and  regulations  to  prevent  the  intro- 
duction and  spread  of  infectious  and  contagious  diseases,  and 
in  the  exercise  of  this  power,  quarantine  regulations  may  be 
enacted,  when  deemed  necessary,  and  persons  and  property  forbid 
a  landing  in  this  State  when,  in  the  opinion  of  the  authori- 
ties, the  same  would  be  detrimental  to  the  health,  comfort 
and  safety  of  our  people.  Under  authority  of  such  legislation,  the  State 
may  exclude  from  its  limits,  convicts,  paupers,  idiots  and  lunatics,  and 
persons  likely  to  become  a  public  charge,  as  well  as  persons  afflicted  with 
contagious  diseases — a  right  founded  in  the  sacred  law  of  self-defence. 
The  same  principle  will  justify  the  exclusion  of  property  from  the  State 
dangerous  to  the  property  of  citizens  of  this  State;  for  example,  animals 
having  contagious  or  infectious  diseases,  or  property  affected  with  a  con- 
tagious disease,  the  transportation  of  which  into  our  State  is  liable  to 
cause  a  spread  of  the  contagion  to  the  property  of  our  citizens. 

So  the  Courts  have  sustained  the  legislation  of  various  States  prohibit- 
ing the  transportation  of  cattle  into  a  State  affected  with  what  is  commonly 
known  as  Texas  or  Spanish  fever,  and  have  uniformly  held  that  although 
a  State  has  no  power  to  prohibit  the  transportation  of  infected  property 
through  it  by  common  carriers,  it  has  the  right  to  restrict  the  manner 
and  mode  of  such  transportation  to  railroads  and  steamboats,  if  necessary 
to  prevent  the  spread  of  contagion  and  disease.  So  the  State,  as  a  police 
regulation,  clearly  has  the  right  to  prescribe  the  kind  of  cars  in  which  such 
property  is  to  be  transported,  and  such  precautionary  measures  as  may  be 
reasonably  necessary  to  prevent  the  contagious  or  infectious  disease  from 
being  communicated  to  property  within  the  State.  All  exertions  of  power 
along  these  lines  by  the  State  authorities  are  in  the  immediate  connection 
with  the  protection  of  persons  and  property  against  noxious  acts  of  other 
persons,  or  such  a  use  of  property  as  is  injurious  to  the  property  of  others. 
The  exercise  of  such  power  is  self-defensive. 

The  passage  of  any  law  by  the  State  for  the  protection  of  the  property 
of  its  citizens  is  but  the  legitimate  exercise  of  its  police  power,  and  upon 
that  ground  any  legislation  that  has  for  its  object  the  prevention  of  the 
introduction  into  our  State,  or  spread  of  any  insect  or  disease  deterimental 


32  PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOLL  WEEVIL  CONVENTION. 

to  the  agricultural  interest  of  the  State,  would  be  sustained  by  the 
Courts. 

"The  right  of  the  State,  as  of  the  man,"  says  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States,  in  a  recent  case,  "is  self-protection,  and  with  the  State  that 
right  involves  the  universally  acknowledged  power  and  duty  to  enact  and 
enforce  all  such  laws  not  in  plain  conflict  with  some  provision  of  the 
State  or  federal  constitution,  as  may  rightly  be  deemed  necessary  or  ex- 
pedient for  the  safety,  health,  morals,  comfort,  and  welfare  of  its  people." 

In  the  exercise  of  its  police  power,  the  State,  or  any  board  to  which  it 
may  delegate  its  power,  can  take  its  citizen's  property,  without  compensa- 
tion, and  against  his  will,  and  destroy  it  just  as  well  as  it  could  resort  to 
the  destruction  of  a  house  threatened  by  a  spreading  conflagration,  or  the 
clothes  of  a  person  who  has  fallen  a  victim  to  small-pox.  Such  property 
is  not  taken  under  circumstances  of  this  character  for  public  use."  It  is 
destroyed  because,  in  the  judgement  of  those  to  whom  the  law  has  con- 
fided the  power  of  decision,  it  is  of  no  use  and  is  a  source  of  public 
danger. 

Within  the  past  twenty  years,  a  number  of  States  have  adopted  drastic 
measures  for  the  protection  of  the  agricultural  and  horticultural  interests ; 
and  the  last  few  years  have  been  noteworthy  in  the  interest  shown  in  such 
legislation,  especially  by  horticulturalists,  in  the  question  of  legislation 
against  insects,  and  several  States  have  enacted  new  laws,  while  many 
others  have  similar  legislation  under  advisement. 

The  enactments  of  the  various  States  upon  the  subject  will  be  found  in 
bulletins  No.  n  and  13  of  the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture, 
issued  under  the  direction  and  supervision  of  Dr.  L.  O.  Howard,  Entomo- 
logist of  that  Department.  The  latest  act  on  the  subject,  and  the  one  to 
which  I  would  call  your  especial  attention,,  is  the  one  passed  by  Virginia. 
By  this  act,  a  State  Crop  Pest  Commission  is  established  with  power  and 
authority  to  promulgate  rules  and  regulations  on  the  subject  of  insect 
pests,  and  the  State  Entomologist  is  directed  to  proceed  to  investigate, 
control,  eradict  and  prevent  the  dissemination  of  any  dangerous  pests 
as  far  as  possible,  and  these  rules  and  regulations  have  all  the  force  and 
effect  of  the  law. 

Our  own  State  in  1894  passed  an  act  to  prevent  the  introduction,  propa- 
gation or  distribution  in  this  State  of  any  fruit  trees  or  fruit  growth 
affected  with  any  infectious  disease,  or  infectious  insects  injurious  to  fruit 
growth,  and  penalties  are  prescribed  for  any  wilful  neglect  or  violation 
of  this  Act.  Under  Sec.  3  of  this  Act,  it  is  made  the  duty  of  the  ento- 
mologist of  the  State  Agricultural  Experiment  Station,  at  the  request 
of  the  director  of  said  station,  to  visit  any  section  of  the  State,  where 
there  are  diseased  fruit  trees,  or  tree  growth  infected  with  disease  or 
insects  injurious  to  tree  growth,  to  examine  and  report  on  such  diseased 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOLL  WEEVIL  CONVENTION.  33 

fruit,  growth,  or  infected  tree  growth,  and  if  such  examinations  prove 
the  infected  trees  perniciously  infected,  it  is  made  the  duty  of  the  owner 
to  at  once  disinfect  or  destroy  the  same. 

In  the  legislation,  to  which  I  refer,  a  board  of  commissioners,  usually 
composed  of  the  State  entomologist,  and  other  persons  connected  with 
the  Agricultural  Bureau,  are  authorized  to  inspect  the  property  alleged 
to  be  infected  with  any  of  the  diseases  designated  by  the  statutes  as  con- 
tagious, and  if  such  disease  is  found  to  exist,  they  are  authorized  to 
destroy  the  property;  and  in  most  of  the  statutes,  it  is  made  a  mis- 
demeanor, punishable  by  fine  and  imprisonment,  for  the  owner  of  any 
such  property  to  decline  or  fail  to  carry  out  the  rules  and  regulations 
made  by  said  commissioners. 

There  can  be  no  possible  doubt  of  the  power  of  the  State  Legislature 
to  deal  with  the  subject  so  as  to  prevent  the  shipment  of  any  property 
into  this  State  from  which  it  can  be  reasonably  apprehended  that  the 
boll  wevil  might  be  brought  into  our  midst;  and,  in  addition,  to  provide 
such  rules  and  regulations  as  would  authorize  the  eradication  of  the 
pest,  if  found  in  our  midst,  by  such  methods  as  the  wisdom  of  the 
Board,  to  which  this  matter  should  be  referred,  should  deem  advisable. 

In  matters  of  this  character,  many  of  our  people  are  disposed  to  rely 
too  much  on  the  aid  of  the  Federal  Government,  which  possesses  little 
or  no  jurisdiction  in  the  premises. 

The  power  to  legislate  on  the  subject  of  the  prevention  of  the  spread 
of  the  boll  weevil  into  our  State  is  but  the  exercise  of  the  police 
power  of  the  State,  and  this  power  cannot  be  exercised  within  the 
limits  of  the  State  by  the  Congress  of  the  United  States.  The  power 
of  enacting  laws  upon  the  subject  resides  solely  and  exclusively  in  the 
States.  It  is  true  that  the  general  government,  under  its  power  to 
regulate  commerce,  could  enact  laws  quarantining  the  shipment  of  ar- 
ticles of  merchandise  into  our  State,  which,  in  the  opinion  of  the 
authorities,  would  be  dangerous,  yet  this  would  be  the  limitation  of 
the  power  of  the  Federal  Government;  and  the  additional  authority 
to  prevent  the  spread  of  such  seriously  injurious  insects,  or  to  exterminate 
the  same  by  the  destruction  of  the  property  so  affected,  would  neces- 
sarily have  to  emanate  from  the  State  authorities. 

The  national  government  has  authority  to  provide  rules  and  regu- 
lations governing  the  importation  of  property  from  foreign  countries, 
and  all  which  become  subjects  of  interstate  commerce  or  exportation, 
and  this  convention  should  urge  immediate  action  by  it  on  this  sub- 
ject. It  is  necessary  to  have  a  uniform  national  law  on  the  subject, 
so  as  to  prevent  the  introduction  of  the  boll  weevil  into  the  other 
cotton  States  of  the  Union  from  the  State  of  Texas  and  the  Republic 
of  Mexico. 

In  the  face  of  the  acknowledged  fact  that  fully  one-half  of  the  prin- 


34  PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOLL  WEEVIL  CONVENTION. 

cipal  insects  now  in  the  United  States  have  been  introduced  from 
foreign  countries,  no  effort  on  the  part  of  the  general  government  has 
ever  been  made  to  prohibit  the  entrance  of  such  pests.  A  national  law 
of  this  character  would  have  excluded  the  boll  weevil  from  the  State 
of  Texas. 

It  is  true  that  in  1901,  Senator  Perkins  introduced  a  bill  into  the 
United  States  Senate  providing  rules  and  regulations  governing  the 
importation  of  trees,  plants,  etc.,  and  for  the  inspection  of  nursery  stock 
grown  within  the  United  States,  which  become  subject  to  interstate 
commerce  or  exportation,  and  while  this  act  was  reported  favorably  by 
the  Committee  on  Agriculture,  it  failed  to  pass. 

Necessity  for  such  legislation  on  the  part  of  the  general  govern- 
ment is  of  absolute  importance  to  the  agricultural  and  horticultural 
interests  of  the  country,  and  this  convention  should  energetically  urge 
upon  our  Senators  and  Representatives  the  importance  of  the  subject. 
Of  course,  an  act  could  be  drawn  on  lines  broad  and  comprehensive 
enough  to  cover  the  interstate  branch  of  the  immediate  question  now 
under  consideration, — the  prevention  of  the  introduction  of  the  boll 
weevil  from  one  State  to  another. 

We  shall  now  direct  our  attention  to  the  necessity  of  legislation  on 
the  part  of  our  State  for  the  protection  of  our  people  against  the  im- 
pending danger  of  the  invasion  of  the  boll  weevil  into  the  cotton  pro- 
ducing section  of  this  State. 

The  necessity  of  such  legislation  is  of  great  importance  for  the  protection 
of  our  agricultural  interests.  The  Department  of  Agriculture  at  Wash- 
ington strongly  emphasizes  the  necessity  of  immediate  legislation  on 
the  subject,  so  as  to  enable  the  Federal  Government  to  co-operate  with 
the  State  authorities  in  preventing  the  spread  of  the  pest  into  our  bor-' 
ders,  and  the  demand  for  it  upon  the  part  of  the  people  has  become 
so  strong  that  it  should  not  long  be  delayed. 

Our  geographical  situation  is  such  as  to  make  our.  State  the  key 
to  the  situation.  The  State  of  Arkansas  also  occupies  an  important 
position,  and  the  federal  authorities  should  call  the  attention  of  its 
State  authorities  to  the  subject.  The  great  cotton  producing  States  on 
the  East  can  only  be  saved  by  prompt  and  energetic  action  on  our 
part.  Some  of  these,  States,  notably  Georgia,  have  already  adopted 
a  quarantine  against  our  State  and  the  State  of  Texas.  A  regulation 
recently  adopted  in  that  State  prohibits  the  transportation  of  cotton  seed 
grown  in  Texas  or  Louisiana,  or  consigned  from  points  within  these 
States,  unless  the  same  is  accompanied  by  a  certificate  signed  by  a 
duly  authorized  State  or  government  entomologist,  stating  that  said 
cotton  seed  has  been  fumigated  in  such  manner  as  to  kill  any  boll 
weevils,  etc.,  which  may  be  contained  therein. 

I  have  an  abiding  faith  in  the  intelligence  and  ability  of  the  scientific 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOLL  WEEVIL  CONVENTION.  35 

men  of  this  country  to  deal  with  the  subject  and  ultimately  eradicate 
the  pest,  but,  in  the  mean  time,  practically  the  only  money  crop  of  the 
South  is  threatened  with  extinction. 

In  view  of  a  strong  belief,  entertained  by  the  highest  authority  on 
the  subject,  that  the  destruction  of  our  cotton  crops  can  be  indefinitely 
delayed  or  materially  retarded,  it  is  highly  important  that  we  adopt  legis- 
lation conferring  on  some  organized  authority  the  power  to  prevent 
the  importation  into  our  State  of  any  goods,  wares  or  merchandise  from 
which  the  Mexican  boll  weevil  is  liable  to  be  brought  into  our  State, 
and  also  to  confiscate  any  crop  or  property  infected  with  said  pests,  to 
the  end  of  preventing  its  spread,  or,  if  possible,  to  eradicate  it. 

The  following  excerpt  from  an  editorial  in  the  Shreveport  Times,  of 
date  November  24th,  does  not  overestimate  the  importance  of  immediate 
action  on  the  subject: 

"The  entire  cotton  belt  is  threatened  by  the  boll  weevil.  Throughout 
the  South  it  is  realized  that  unless  decisive  and  prompt  measures  are 
taken  to  arrest  its  progress,  the  weevil  will  in  course  of  time  destroy 
a  most  important  industry.  That  is  why  there  was  such  unanimity 
of  action  among  suothern  Congressmen  in  the  effort  to  secure  government 
co-operation  in  the  movement  to  exterminate  or  repress  the  boll  worm. 
It  is  proposed  to  have  Congress  provide  for  the  creation  of  a  special 
commission  to  work  out  a  plan  for  the  extermination  of  the  pest. 

"If  the  representatives  of  the  people  of  the  entire  South  appreciate 
the  necessity  of  prompt  action  in  this  matter,  how  much  greater  should 
the  people  of  Louisiana,  which  borders  the  infested  State,  feel  the 
need  of  decisive  measures.  Louisiana,  by  virtue  of  her  geographical 
position,  is  in  much  greater  peril  than  any  other  Southern  State.  The 
boll  weevil  is  almost  at  her  western  border  and  she  holds  the  key,  as 
it  were,  to  this  decidedly  unpleasant  situation. 

"It  is  impossible  to  overestimate  the  necessity  of  promptly  devising 
measures  against  the  boll  weevil  in  this  State.  Hesitation  or  evasion 
would  prove  ruinous  not  only  to  the  cotton  interests  of  Louisiana,  but 
of  the  entire  South.  If  we  grasp  the  problem  firmly  and  promptly,  the 
cotton  interests  may  be  rescued  from  the  danger  which  now  confronts 
them." 

It  is  folly  for  anyone  to  minimize  the  injury  wrought  to  the  cotton 
interests  by  the  boll  weevil.  The  subjoined  table  shows  the  yield  of 
cotton,  in  soo-pound  bales,  for  the  four  years  of  1899,  1900,  1901  and 
1902,  in  the  counties  of  Texas  densely  infected  by  the  weevil. 

The  President:  The  next  subject,  the  last  one  on  the  program  for 
to-day,  is  the  "Constitutionality  of  Proposed  Legislation,"  by  Judge 
Walter  Guion,  Attorney  General  of  Louisiana,  of  New  Orleans. 

Before  reading  his  paper,  Judge  Guion  made  a  brief  statement,  as 
follows : 


36  PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOLL  WEEVIL  CONVENTION. 

Mr.  Chairman  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Convention — I  wish  briefly  to  state 
that  a  few  days  ago,  I  received  an  invitation  to  read  a  paper  here,  on  the 
subject  of  the  legislative  measures  which  may  be  taken  by  the  State  of  Lou- 
isiana in  this  emergency.  At  the  same  time,  I  received  a  communication 
from  th'e  Governor,  asking  for  an  opinion  concerning  the  legislation  which 
might  be  had  along  constitutional  lines,  that  would  serve  the  purposes 
of  the  people  of  this  State;  and  I  wrote  Professor  Stubbs,  that  I  would 
prefer  not  to  read  a  paper,  but  simply  to  give  the  opinion  which  I 
have  given  the  Governor;  and  I  will  read  it  to  you. 

Following  is  the  opinion  of  Judge  Guion : 

NEW  ORLEANS,  LA.,  Nov.  27,  1903. 

His  Excellency,  W.  W.  Heard,  Governor  of  the  State  of  Louisiana, 
Baton  Rouge,  La. :  Dear  Sir — I  have  your  letter  of  the  23d  inst.,  in 
which,  after  referring  to  the  importance  of  the  matters  coming  before 
the  Convention  which  is  to  meet  in  New  Orleans  on  the  30th  inst.  to 
discuss  the  boll  weevil  and  the  measures  of  prevention  that  may  be 
taken  to  safeguard  the  people  of  the  State  against  invasion  by  it.  You 
ask  me  to  "prepare  an  opinion  covering  any  constitutional  ques- 
tions that  might  be  involved,  and  the  right  of  the  Legislature 
to  enact  laws  looking,  first,  to  the  setting  apart  of  a  strip" 
of  land  on  the  Texas  border  on  which  the  cultivation  of  cotton 
will  be  prohibited,  and,  second,  such  quarantine  laws  as  will  prevent 
the  introduction  of  certain  cotton  products  through  which  the  boll  weevil 
might  be  brought  into  this  State,"  and,  finally,  you  suggest  that  "it  would 
also  be  well  to  consider  the  right  of  the  Legislature  to  create  a  com- 
mission vested  with  full  power  to  carry  out  the  objects  and  purposes 
of  a  more  definite  and  specific  law." 

Prof.  W.  C.  Stubbs  has  also  been  kind  enough  to  request  me  to  give 
my  views  upon  the  subject  in  an  address  to  be  delivered  before  the 
Convention.  I  have  suggested  to  him  that  I  would  prefer  giving  them 
in  the  form  of  an  opinion  to  you,  since  the  measures  of  protection  to 
be  adopted  must,  after  all,  be  afforded  by  the  Legislature,  which  cannot 
meet  in  extra  session  unless  called  together  by  you. 

Therefore,  it  must  finally  be  left  to  you  to  determine  whether  the 
Legislature  has  the  power  and  authority  to  enact  such  laws  as  will 
give  the  relief  which  is  desired,  and  if  so,  whether  a  special  session 
thereof  should  be  called  for  that  purpose. 

The  first  question  to  be  answered  is  wether  the  State  of  Louisiana 
has  the  right  to  prevent  the  cultivation  of  cotton  upon  lands  lying  along 
the  eastern  bank  of  the  Sabine  River,  for  I  understand  from  Prof. 
Stubbs  that  the  Convention  will  doubtless  take  up  for  discussion 
the  subject  of  the  right  of  the  State  to  set  apart  a  strip  of  territory 
in  Louisiana  of  a  certain  width  lying  along  the  Sabine  River,  and  ex- 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOLL  WEEVIL  CONVENTION.  37 

tending  from  the  northern  to  the  southern  boundary  of  the  State,  upon 
which  the  growing  of  cotton  is  to  be  prohibited,  either  altogether  or 
for  a  fixed  period  of  time,  and  the 

Second  is:  Whether  the  Legislature  of  this  State  has  the  power, 
right  and  authority  to  prohibit  the  shipment  into  or  through  the  State 
of  cotton  and  cotton  seed,  etc.,  from  the  State  of  Texas,  or  other 
places  where  the  boll  weevil  may  exist. 

First — That  the  State,  in  the  exercise  of  her  sovereign  power,  has  the 
right  to  take  private  property  whenever  necessary  for  public  purposes, 
or  for  the  proper  exercise  of  governmental  functions,  is  so  well  recog- 
nized and  established  as  no  longer  to  need  the  citation  of  authority 
in  support  of  the  proposition.  This  right,  known  as  the  right  of  emi- 
nent domain,  to  be  exercised  by  the  State,  through  her  Legislature,  is 
conditioned,  however,  upon  the  payment  of  just  compensation  to  the 
owner  of  the  property  so  taken,  our  Constitution — article  167  of  the 
Constitution  of  1898 — declaring  that  "private  property  shall  not  be  taken 
nor  damaged  for  public  purposes  without  just  and  adequate  compen- 
sation being  first  paid." 

Again,  it  must  be  conceded  that  the  State  has  the  right,  not  only 
to  suppress  nuisances,  but  to  regulate  the  use  and  enjoyment  of  private 
property  by  the  owner,  in  order  thereby  to  promote  the  general 
welfare  of  the  public,  or  to  forbid  its  use  entirely  for  certain  purposes 
hurtful  to  the  health,  comfort  or  convenience  of  the  public.  This 
power,  residing  in  the  State  in  her  sovereign  capacity,  known  as  the 
police  power  of  the  State,  may  be  exercised  whenever  the  necessity 
may  arise  for  its  exercise  and  without  compensation  to  the  owner  of 
the  property  thus  deprived  of  its  use  and  enjoyment. 

In  the  one  case,  where  the  power  of  the  State,  in  the  exercise  of 
the  right  of  eminent  domain,  is  exerted,  the  property  of  the  owner  is 
taken  by  the  State,  for  a  public  purpose,  on  compensating  the  owner 
for  the  same,  while  in  the  other  instance,  where  the  police  power  of 
the  State  is  exercised,  there  is  no  taking  of  property  for  public  purposes, 
but  a  mere  deprivation  of  use  or  enjoyment  by  the  owner  in  the  in- 
terest and  for  the  welfare  of  the  public.  The  distinction  between  the 
police  power  of  the  State  and  the  right  of  eminent  domain  lies  in 
this,  "that  in  the  exercise  of  the  latter  right  private  property  is  taken 
for  public  use,  and  the  owner  is  invariably  entitled  to  compensation 
therefor,  while  the  police  power  is  usually  exerted  merely  to  regulate 
the  use  and  enjoyment  by  the  owner,  or,  if  he  is  deprived  of  his  prop- 
erty outright,  it  is  not  taken  for  public  use,  but  rather  destroyed  in 
order  to  promote  the  general  welfare  of  the  public  and  in 
neither  case  is  the  owner  entitled  to  any  compensation  for  any 
injury  which"  he  may  sustain  in  consequence  thereof,  for  the 
law  considers  that  either  the  injury  is  damnum  absque  injurm 


38  PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOLL  WEEVIL  CONVENTION. 

or  the  owner  is  sufficiently  compensated  by  sharing  in  the  general 
benefits  resulting  from  the  exercise  of  the  police  power."  Am.  and 
Eng.  Enc.  of  Law,  vol.  22,  p.  916. 

In  the  case  of  Bass  vs.  the  State,  34  An.,  494,  the  Supreme  Court  of 
this  State  said :  "There  are  cases  where  it  becomes  necessary  for  the 
public  authorities  to  interfere  with  control  by  individuals  of  their  prop- 
erty, and  even  to  destroy  it,  when  the  owners  themselves  have  fully 
observed  all  their  duties  to  their  fellows  and  to  the  State,  but  where, 
nevertheless,  some  controlling  public  necessity  demands  the  interference 
or  destruction.  Strong  instances  exist  where  it  becomes  necessary  to 
take,  use  or  destroy  the  private  property  of  individuals  to  prevent  the 
spreading  of  fire,  the  ravages  of  pestilence,  the  advance  of  a  hostile 
army  or  any  other  great  public  calamity. 

The  laws  passed  for  such  purposes,  it  is  well  settled,  though  they  may 
disturb  the  enjoyment  of  individual  rights,  are  not  unconstitutional, 
though  no  compensation  is  made.  They  do  not  appropriate  private 
property  for  public  use,  but  simply  regulate  its  enjoyment  by  the  owner. 
If  he  suffers  injury,  he  is  compensated  in  the  theory  of  the  law  by 
sharing  in  the  general  benefits  which  the  regulations  are  intended  or 
calculated  to  secure.  These  regulations  rest  upon  the  maxim,  salum 
populi  supremo,  lex." 

This  language  was  used  in  deciding  a  suit  brought  by  Abraham  Bass 
against  the  State  for  the  recovery  of  the  sum  of  $75,000,  the  value  of 
his  plantation  which  had  been  practically  destroyed  by  the  building 
of  a  levee  on  the  Mississippi  River,  under  State  authority,  in  the  rear 
of  the  plantation,  so  as  to  leave  it  entirely  unprotected  from  overflow, 
and  thereby  depriving  him  of  its  use  and  enjoyment.  The  Supreme 
Court  there  decided  that  the  action  thus  taken  by  the  State  was  not 
a  taking  of  plaintiff's  property  for  public  purposes  in  the  exercise 
of  the  right  of  eminent  domain  for  which  he  should  be  compensated, 
but  was  an  exercise  of  her  police  powers,  and  that  the  State  owed  no 
compensation  under  the  circumstances  to  the  owner  of  the  property. 

In  the  case  of  the  New  Orleans  Gas  Light  Company  vs.  Hart,  40  An., 
474,  which  was  a  suit  brought  to  enjoin  the  removal  by  defendant 
of  certain  lamp  posts  erected  by  plaintiff  in  the  city  of  New  Orleans, 
and  where  one  of  the  defenses  made  was  that  defendant  had  the  right 
to  remove  the  posts  under  authority  delegated  to  him  by  the  city  in 
the  exercise  of  her  police  power,  the  Supreme  Court  of  this  State 
said :  "The  last  objection  to  be  considered  is  whether  the  city  could 
have  exercised  the  right  of  removal  of  the  obnoxious  lampposts.  That 
right  the  city  possesses  as  an  inherent  concomitant  of  the  police  power. 
So  far  that  power  has  not  received  a  full  and  complete  definition; 
but  it  may  be  said  to  be  the  right  of  the  State,  or  of  a  State  functionary, 
to  prescribe  regulations  for  the  good  order,  peace,  protection,  com- 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOLL  WEEVIL  CONVENTION.  39 

fort  and  convenience  of  the  community  which  do  not  encroach  on  the 
like  power  vested  in  Congress  by  the  Federal  Constitution."  Con- 
tinuing, the  Court  said,  speaking  of  what  the  police  power  of  a  State 
is:  "It  is  a  power  in  the  exercise  of  which  a  man's  property  may 
be  taken  from  him,  where  his  liberty  may  be  shackled  and  his  person 
exposed  to  destruction  in  cases  of  great  public  emergencies." 

In  the  case  of  Egan  vs.  Hart,  45  An.,  1,358,  the  doctrine  announced 
in  Bass  vs.  the  State  is  reaffirmed;  that  the  State  in  locating  her 
public  levees  acts  in  the  exercise  of  her  police  power,  and  that  any  private 
injury  resulting  therefrom  is  damnum  absque  injuria. 

Again,  in  the  case  of  Ruch  vs.  the  City  of  New  Orleans,  reported 
in  the  43d  Annual,  the  Supreme  Court  of  this  State  differentiates 
between  the  exercise  of  the  right  of  eminent  domain  and  the  police 
power  of  the  State,  and  holds,  at  page  284,  that  although  private 
property  may  be  appropriated  for  a  public  roadway,  the  taking,  under 
such  circumstances,  is  not  in  the  exercise  of  the  right  of  eminent  domain, 
but  of  the  police  power  of  the  State,  and  that  any  loss  sustained  thereby 
does  not  entitle  the  injured  party  to  be  recompensed  therefor,  the 
injury  being  damnum,  absque  injuria,  but  that  the  right  of  expropria- 
tion of  property  is  in  the  exercise  of  the  right  of  eminent  domain 
which  entitles  the  owner  to  damages  by  way  of  compensation. 

In  the  case  of  Koerber  vs.  the  Orleans  Levee  Board  et  als.,  51  An., 
it  was  contended  that  certain  levee  work  done  by  the  Board  of  Com- 
missioners of  the  Orleans  Levee  Distrcit  was  not  a  work  of  emergency, 
and  that  plaintiff's  property  could  not  be  taken  for  public  use 
except  through  regular  expropriation  proceedings  and  prior  com- 
pensation. The  Court  said,  at  page  536:  "Ordinarily,  private 
property  should  be  taken  for  public  use  only  by  regular  judi- 
cial expropriation  proceedings,  but  there  are  occasions  when  the  public 
safety  requires  and  justifies  the  taking  immediately  of  such  property  under 
the  police  powers  of  the  State." 

True  it  is  that  the  Bass  case  decided  upon  a  state  of  facts  which 
arose  and  existed  at  the  time  the  Constitution  of  1868  was  in  force, 
and  was  governed  by  that  Constitution,  article  no  of  which  declares 
that :  "No  ex  post  facto  or  retroactive  law,  nor  any  law  impairing  the  obli- 
gation of  contracts,  shall  be  passed,  nor  vested  rights  be  divested,  unless  for 
purposes  of  public  utility  and  for  adequate  compensation."  This  article 
of  the  Constitution  of  1868  is  found  in  previous  Constitutions  of  this 
State.  For  the  first  time  the  framers  of  our  organic  law  saw  fit  to 
adopt  a  new  article  when  ,in  1879,  they  declared  by  article  156  that 
"Private  property  shall  not  be  taken  nor  damaged  for  public  purposes 
without  just  and  adequate  compensation  being  first  paid."  This  iden- 
tical language  is  again  found  in  article  167  of  the  Constitution  of  1898. 
For  the  first  time,  in  1879  the  Constitution  provided  for  compensa- 


4O  PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOLL  WEEVIL  CONVENTION. 

tion  to  be  paid  in  cases  where  property  is  damaged,  as  well  as  taken, 
for  public  purposes,  no  similar  provision  being  contained  in  the  Con- 
stitution of  1868  or  previous  Constitutions  of  the  State.  This  additional 
instance,  however,  where  the  owner  may  be  compensated  for  damage 
done  his  property  by  the  State,  as  well  as  in  the  cases  where  it  may 
be  entirely  taken,  refers  to  cases  where  the  property  is  damaged  by 
the  State  in  the  exercise  of  the  right  of  eminent  domain,  and  not 
where  it  is  injured  in  the  exercise  of  the  police  power  of  the  State. 

This  article  of  the  Constitution  was  in  force  at  the  time  the  suit  of 
Egan  vs.  Hart  was  brought,  for  the  latter  was  instituted  after  the 
adoption  of  the  Constitution  of  1879,  and  upon  a  state  of  facts  arising 
after  its  adoption.  In  that  case  plaintiff  sued  only  for  damages  done 
to  the  property  by  certain  levee  work,  which  she  claimed  resulted  in  a 
depreciation  of  its  value,  etc.,  and  not  because  her  property  had  been 
taken  from  her,  and,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  article  156  of  the 
Constitution  of  1879  entitled  all  persons  to  be  compensated  for  the 
damage  done  their  property,  as  well  as  where  it  is  actually  taken  by 
the  State,  the  Supreme  Court  refused  her  demand,  because  the  injury 
complained  of  by  her  was  done,  not  in  the  exercise  of  the  right  of 
eminent  domain,  but  of  the  police  power  of  the  State. 

The  case  of"  L'Hote  vs.  City  of  New  Orleans,  51  An.,  93,  is  one 
where,  although  injury  was  alleged  to  have  been  done  to  plaintiff's 
property  and  its  value  diminished  by  reason  of  the  ordinance  of  the 
City  Council  in  respect  to  the  limits  within  which  houses  of  prostitution 
might  be  located,  the  Supreme  Court  held  that  the  injury  suffered 
was  damnum  absque  injuria,  since  the  ordinance  was  within  the  ex- 
ercise of  the  police  powers  of  the  City  Council.  This  case  went  to 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  which  decided  against  the 
plaintiff  in  error.  That  Court,  referring  to  the  complaint  of  plaintiff  in  er- 
ror that  the  city  ordinance,  if  enforced,  would  injure  the  value  of  his  prop- 
erty, said :  "It  is  said  that  this  operates  to  depreciate  the  pecuniary  value 
of  the  property  belonging  to  the  plaintiff  in  error,  but  a  similar  result 
will  follow  if  other  limits  were  prescribed,  and,  therefore,  the  power 
to  prescribe  limits  could  never  be  exercised,  because,  whatever  the 
limits,  it  might  operate  to  the  pecuniary  disadvantage  of  some  property 
holders.  The  truth  is  that  the  exercise  of  the  police  power  often  works 
pecuniary  injury,  but  the  'settled  rule  of  this  Court  is  that  the  mere 
fact  of  pecuniary  injury  does  not  warrant  the  overthrow  of  legislation 
of  a  police  character."  See  177  U.  S.,  p.  589,  citing  Fertilizing  Co.  vs. 
Nyde  Park,  97  U.  S.,  659,  and  Mugler  vs.  Kansas,  123  U.  S.,  623,  in 
both  of  which  it  was  held  that  individuals  hold  their  property  subject 
to  the  ordinary  and  reasonable  exercise  of  the  police  powers  of  the 
State,  not  entitling  them  to  compensation  for  injury  sustained  in  the 
proper  exercise  of  such  power  by  the  State. 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOLL  WEEVIL  CONVENTION.  4! 

Camfield  vs.  United  States,  167  U.  S.  is  a  case  where  the  extent 
to  which  the  police  power  of  a  State  may  go  was  discussed,  and  it 
was  there  held,  referring  to  a  decision  of  the  Supreme  Judicial  Court 
of  Massachusetts,  that  "the  case  is  authority  for  the  proposition  that 
the  police  power  is  not  subject  to  any  definite  limitations,  but  is  co- 
extensive with  the  necessities  of  the *  case  .and  the  safeguard  of  the 
public  interests."  P.  524. 

From  my  examination  of  numerous  authorities,  as  well  as  text  writers 
on  the  subject,  I  have  reached  the  conclusion  that  the  use  of  property 
is  to  be  distinguished  from  property  itself,  and  that  this  use  or  right 
of  enjoyment  is  held  subject  to  the  police  power  of  the  State,  to  be 
entirely  taken  away  if  necessary,  without  compensating  the  owner 
therefor. 

My  opinion,  therefore,  is  that  if  there  has  arisen-  such  an  emergency 
as,  in  the  exercise  of  a  wise  discretion  by  the  Legislature,  would  justify 
it  in  prohibiting  the  cultivation  of  cotton  upon  lands  lying  along  the 
Sabine  River  or  elsewhere  in  this  State,  in  order  to  prevent  the  intro- 
duction into  the  cotton  fields  of  the  State  of  the  boll  weevil,  and  that 
steps  should  be  taken  to  prevent  the  weevil  from  getting  into  the  State, 
it  would  have  the  right  to  enact  suitable  laws  for  that  purpose,  if  neces- 
sary to  accomplish  that  object,  in  the  exercise  of  the  police  power  of  the 
State ;  and  this  without  any  corresponding  obligation  on  the  part  of  the 
State  to  compensate  the  owners  of  such  property  for  any  injury  sustained 
by  them  by  reason  of  their  being  deprived  of  the  use  of  their  property 
in  the  growing  and  raising  of  cotton  thereon. 

In  order  to  justify  such  legislation,  the  injury  threatened  by  the  boll 
weevil  must  be  so  great  as  to  make  it  reasonably  necessary  to  resort  to 
such  stringent  measures,  otherwise  the  State  cannot  deprive  the  owners 
of  the  use  of  their  property  without  compensation  for  such  injury  as 
may  be  sustained  by  them  by  reason  of  the  deprivation.  Besides,  the 
Legislature  can  only  justify  such  interference  with  the  property  rights 
of  these  owners  in  the  exercise  of  the  police  power  of  the  State  while 
the  necessity  lasts,  for  it  is  the  necessity  which  furnishes  the  justifi- 
cation, so  that  if  the  necessity  no  longer  exists  the  right  thus  exercised 
ceases. 

Second — The  next  question  to  be  answered  is,  whether  the  Legislature 
may  enact  suitable  laws  to  prohibit  and  prevent  the  shipments  into  or 
through  the  State  of  cotton,  cotton  seed,  etc.,  from  the  State  of  Texas  or 
elsewhere,  where  the  boll  weevil  may  exist. 

The  right  of  a  State  to  enact  and  enforce  quarantine  laws,  in  order  to 
prevent  the  introduction  of  infectious  or  contagious  diseases,  whether 
brought  from  a  foreign  country  or  from  one  of  the  other  States  of  the 
Union,  has  been  recognized  and  upheld  by  an  unbroken  line  of  authority. 

In  the  Passenger  Cases,  7  Howard,  p.  414,  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 


42  PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOLL  WEEVIL  CONVENTION. 

United  States  held  "that  the  States  of  this  Union  may,  in  the  exercise  of 
their  police  powers,  pass  quarantine  and  health  laws,  interdicting  vessels 
coming  from  foreign  ports,  or  ports  within  the  United  States,  from  land- 
ing passengers  and  goods,  prescribe  the  places  and  time  for  vessels  to 
quarantine,  arid  impose  penalties  for  violating  the  same ;  and  that  such 
laws,  though  affecting  commerce  in  its  transit,  are  not  regulations  of 
commerce  prescribing  terms  upon  which  merchandise  and  persons  shall 
be  admitted  into  the  ports  of  the  United  States,  but  precautionary  regu- 
lations to  prevent  vessels  engaged  in  commerce  from  introducing  disease 
into  the  ports  to  which  they  are  bound,  etc." 

In  a  valuable  treatise  on  the  laws  of  public  health  and  safety  by  Messrs. 
Parker  &  Worthington  (edition  of  1892)  they  declare  that  "the  ordinary 
system  of  quarantine  laws  established  -by  a  State  is  a  rightful  exercise 
of  the  police  power  for  the  protection  of  health,"  and  that,  "it  i?  un- 
doubtdly  within  the  power  of  the  States  to  establish  precautionary  meas- 
ures against  the  spread  of  communicable  diseases  by  persons  coming  from 
foreign  countries  or  from  other  States,"  and  that  "the  State  may  prohibit 
the  introduction  within  its  borders  of  animals  suffering  with  contagious 
or  infectious  diseases  and  of  articles  of  property  which  are  of  such  a 
nature  or  in  such  a  condition  as  to  be  dangerous  to  the  health  or  safety 
of  the  people." 

The  theory  which  seems  to  justify  State  action  being  taken  to  prevent 
property  from  being  brought  into  its  borders  without  interfering  with  the 
commerce  clause  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  is,  that  such 
things,  either  because  of  their  nature  or  their  condition,  cannot  be  properly 
considered  as  articles  of  commerce,  and  that  as  an  incident  to  the  right 
and  power  to  prevent  their  introduction  the  State  has  the  right  to  use 
proper  means  to  ascertain  that  fact.  Here,  it  would  seem,  is  the  limit 
between  the  sovereign  power  of  the  State  and  the  power  of  the  Federal 
Government.  In  other  words,  every  article  or  thing  which  by  reason  of 
its  nature  or  because  of  its  infectious  or  contagious  condition  cannot  be 
classed  as  an  article  of  commerce,  is  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  police 
power  of  the  State,  while  all  others  which  may  be  subjects  of  commerce 
are  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  United  States. 

In  the  case  of  Leisy  vs.  Hardin,  135  U.  S.,  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States  makes  this  distinction  in  that  part  of  the  decision  where  it 
declares  that  "articles  in  such  a  condition  as  tend  to  spread  disease  are 
not  merchantable,  are  not  legitimate  subjects  of  trade  and  commerce,  and 
the  self-protecting  power  of  each  State,  therefore,  may  be  rightfully  ex- 
erted against  their  introduction,  and  such  exercise  of  power  cannot  be 
considered  a  regulation  of  commerce,  prohibited  by  the  Constitution." 
page  113,  citing  the  language  of  Mr.  Justice  Catron,  in  the  License  Cases. 
5  Howard  504-599,  where  he  holds  that  what  does  not  belong  to  com 
merce  is  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  police  power  of  the  State. 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOLL  WEEVIL  CONVENTION.  43 

In  the  case  of  Railroad  Company  vs.  Husen,  95  U.  S.,  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States  recognized  the  right  of  a  State,  in  the  proper 
exercise  of  its  police  power,  to  exclude,  not  only  persons  and  things  which 
may  endanger  the  life,  health,  peace  or  safety  of  her  citizens,  but  declares 
that  "the  same  principle,  it  may  also  be  conceded,  would  justify  the 
exclusion  of  property  dangerous  to  the  property  of  citizens  of  the  State," 
page  471. 

It  is  true  that  the  Court  in  that  case  refused  to  sustain  a  statute  of  the 
State  of  Missouri  prohibiting  the  driving  or  conveying  into  or  the  keeping 
in  any  county  of  that  State,  of  Texas,  Mexican  or  Indian  cattle,  between 
the  first  day  of  March  and  the  first  day  of  November  of  each  year.  That 
act  was  declared  unconstitutional,  however,  on  the  ground  that  it  was 
neither  a  quarantine  law,  nor  an  inspection  law,  and  because  it  practically 
denied  the  entry  into  the  State  of  Missouri  of  any  Texas,  Mexican  or 
Indian  cattle,  even  though  free  from  disease.  The  right,  however,  of 
every  State  to  protect  itself  in  proper  cases  and  by  proper  measures  of 
quarantine  inspection  against  infection,  whether  from  persons  or  property, 
was  distinctly  recognized  and  affirmed. 

In  a  later  decision,  however,  that  of  Kimmish  vs.  Ball,  129  U.  S.,  the 
Supreme  Court  had  occasion  to  review  the  Husen  case,  and  distinctly  de- 
clared at  page  221  that,  in  that  case,  "no  attempt  was  made  to  show  that 
all  Texas,  Mexican  or  Indian  cattle,  coming  from  the  malarial  district 
during  the  months  mentioned,  were  infected  with  the  disease,  or  that  such 
cattle  were  so  generally  infected  that  it  would  have  been  impossible  to 
separate  the  healthy  from  the  diseased.  Had  such  proof  been  given  a 
different  question  would  have  been  presented  for  the  consideration  of  the 
Court,"  for  said  the  Court:  "Certainly  all  animals  thus  infected  may  be 
excluded  from  the  State  by  its  laws  until  they  are  cured  of  the  disease 
or  until  some  mode  of  transporting  them  without  danger  of  spreading  it 
is  devised." 

In  other  words,  the  Court,  in  the  later  case,  held  that  if  the  above  facts 
had  been  shown  in  the  Husen  case,  it  would  have  upheld  the  Missouri 
statute  as  being  in  the  nature  of  a  quarantine  law  and  not  violative  of  the 
commerce  clause  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States. 

The  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  again,  in  Missouri,  Kansas 
and  Texas  Railway  vs.  Haber,  169  U.  S.,  p.  130,  in  commenting  upon  the 
Husen  case,  declared  that  "the  Missouri  statute  was  held  to  be  uncon- 
stitutional because  it  went  beyond  the  necessities  of  the  case,  having  been 
so  drawn  as  to  exclude  all  Texas,  Mexican  or  Indian  cattle  from  the 
State  (except  cattle  to  be  transported  across  and  out  of  the  State), 
whether  free  from  disease  or  not,  or  whether  they  would  or 
would  not  do  injury  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  State."  The 
Kansas  statute,  however,  which  was  attacked  in  the  Haber  case, 
was  upheld  by  the  Court.  Referring  to  it,  the  Court  said :  "It  does 


44  PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOLL  WEEVIL  CONVENTION. 

not  prohibit  the  bringing  into  the  State  of  all  Texas  cattle.  It  does  not 
in  any  true  sense  prohibit  or  burden  any  commerce  among  the  States 
specifically  authorized  by  Congress;  but,  for  purposes  of  self-protection 
only,  and  in  the  exercise  of  its  inherent  power  to  protect  the  property  of 
its  people,  declared  that  any  corporation  or  person  bringing  into  the  State 
or  driving  into  or  through  any  County  of  the  State,  cattle  liable  to  impart 
or  capable  of  communicating  Texas,  splenic  or  Spanish  fever  to  domestic 
cattle,  should  be  responsible  in  damages,  etc." 

In  Rasmassen  vs.  Idaho,  181  U.  S.,  198,  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States  upheld  a  statute  of  the  State  of  Idaho,  giving  to  the  Gov- 
ernor the  right,  whenever  he  has  reason  to  believe  that  the  disease  known 
as  scab  or  any  other  infectious  disease  of  sheep  has  become  epidemic  in 
certain  localities  of  any  other  State  or  Territory,  to  issue  his  proclama- 
tion designating  such  localities  and  prohibiting  the  importation  into  that 
State  of  any  sheep  from  such  localities,  and  declared  it  to  be  a  quarantine 
regulation. 

It  is  well  to  observe,  however,  that  the  statute  thus  upheld  did  not 
make  an  absolute  prohibition  of  the  introduction  of  sheep  into  the  State 
of  Idaho,  but  merely  authorized  the  Governor  "to  investigate  the  condi- 
tion of  sheep  in  any  locality,  and,  if  found  to  be  subject  to  the  scab  or 
any  epidemic  disease  liable  to  be  communicated  to  other  sheep,  to  make 
such  restrictions  on  their  introduction  into  the  State  as  shall  seem  to  him, 
after  conference  with  the  State  Sheep  Inspector,  to  be  necessary/'  P. 
901. 

In  that  case  the  Governor  of  Idaho,  acting  by  virtue  of  this  act  of  the 
Legislature  of  that  State,  forbade  the  introduction  altogether  into  the 
State  of  sheep  from  certain  localities  in  other  States.  The  Court,  in  sus- 
taining the  law  of  Idaho  and  the  Governor,  said,  in  speaking  of  the  latter : 
"Whether  such  restraint  shall  be  total  or  limited,  and  for  what  length  of 
time,  are  matters  to  be  determined  by  him  upon  full  consideration  of  the 
condition  of  the  sheep  in  the  localities  supposed  to  be  affected."  P.  201. 
Another  case  which  is  instructive  on  this  subject  is  Smith  vs.  St.  Louis 
and  Southwestern  Railway  Company,  181  U.  S.  248. 

In  Prentice  on  Police  Powers  (Ed.  of  1894),  I  find  the  same  principle 
contended  for  in  the  following  language,  at  page  u:  "Articles  in  such  a 
condition  as  tend  to  spread  disease  are  not  merchantable  or  legitimate 
subjects  of  trade  or  commerce,  and  the  self-protecting  power  of  each 
State,  therefore,  may  rightfully  be  exerted  against  their  introduction.  *  * 
So  also  vines  exposed  to  danger  from  phyloxera,  or  wheat  smitten  with 
the  Hessian  fly,  may  be  condemned." 

From  my  examination  of  the  subject  I  feel  convinced  that  the  Legisla- 
ture of  this  State  has  the  right  to  pass  such  quarantine  laws  as  may  be 
reasonably  necessary  to  prevent  the  introduction  of  the  boll  weevil  into 
the  State,  and,  to  that  end,  if  necessary,  to  exclude  from  the  State  cotton, 


PROCEEDINGS  OK  THE  BOLL   WEEVIL  CONVENTION.  45 

cotton  seed  or  anything  else  which  may  serve  as  a  means  of  introducing 
it  into  the  State.  There  should  be  no  reasonable  doubt  of  the  right  of 
the  State  to  enact  quarantine  laws  to  absolutely  prohibit  the  shipment  into 
the  State  of  everything  from  any  place  infected  with  the  boll  weevil, 
as  well  as  the  shipment  of  the  same  through  the  State,  if  thereby  there 
may  be  serious  danger  of  the  weevil  infecting  the  cotton  fields  of  this 
State. 

To  my  mind,  such  measures  of  quarantine  protection  would  be  entirely 
local  and  within  the  exercise  of  the  police  power  of  the  State,  and  not  in 
any  sense  to  be  considered  as  regulations  of  interstate  commerce. 

How  best  to  enforce  such  quarantine;  what  quarantine  regulations 
should  be  adopted,  and  under  what  authority  the  State  should  act  in 
carrying  out  the  measures  of  prevention  necessary  to  attain  the  objects 
and  purposes  of  the  Legislature  are  matters  which  lie  entirely  within  the 
power  of  the  Legislature,  and  are  to  be  dealt  with  by  it.  The  end  in 
view  may  be  accomplished  by  a  special  commission,  created  for  the  pur- 
pose, or  additional  power  or  authority  may  be  given  to  the  Bureau  of 
Agriculture  and  Immigration,  which  already  is  charged  with  the  duty 
of  "encouraging,  advancing  and  protecting  the  agricultural  interests  of 
Louisiana." 

I  am,  yours  respectfully, 

WALTER  GUION,  Attorney  General. 

The  President. — I  wish  to  call  the  attention  of  chairmen  of  committees 
that  we  expect  reports  to-morrow.  Therefore  these  committees  should 
either  meet  to-night,  or  early  in  the  morning. 

Judge  John  C.  Pugh,  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Legislation,  here 
announced  that  there  would  be  a  meeting  of  his  committee  at  9  o'clock. 

Mr.  Chappuis  of  Rayne. — Mr.  Chairman,  I  would  like  to  state  that  some 
of  the  delegates  here  would  like  to  go  back  to-night  ,and  would  like  to  be 
heard  before  going. 

The  Chairman  stated  that  the  matter  rested  with  the  Convention. 

Mr.  Pope  of  Rapides  moved  that  the  gentlemen  be  heard  to-night. 

Thereupon  some  member  offered  as  a  substitute  that  the  gentlemen  be 
invited  to  stay  over  until  to-morrow. 

Mr.  Pugh  of  Shreveport  spoke  to  this  motion. 

Thereupon  Mr.  Chappuis  stated  that  it  was  imperative  for  him  to  leave 
at  night,  and  expressed  a  desire  to  be  heard  before  going. 

Mr.  Pugh  then  moved  that  the  gentleman  be  heard. 

The  substitute  was  withdrawn. 

Mr.  Chappuis  read  the  following  paper,  to-wit: 

"Mr.  Chairman,  Gentlemen — Representing  the  young,  prosperous  and 
beautiful  Parish  of  Arcadia,  and  being  so  situated  that  it  would  probably 
be  one  of  the  first  victims  of  the  most  probable  invasion  of  the  boll  weevil. 


46  PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOLL  WEEVIL  CONVENTION. 

due  to  the  fact  that  it  is  one  of  the  western  parishes  of  the  State  and 
lying  but  a  short  distance  away  from  our  unfortunate  sister  State  bf 
Texas,  has  caused  me  serious  thought  and  prompted  me  to  do,  to  the 
very  best  of  my  ability,  my  duty  to  my  people  in  presenting  to  this  Con- 
vention the  good  and  valid  reasons  why  we  should  adopt  the  most  rigid 
and  effective  measures  to  protect  not  only  the  people  of  my  parish,  but  the 
people  of  the  whole  State,  in  fact,  the  whole  of  the  cotton  belt,  if  such 
lies  within  our  power. 

"The  question  of  quarantine  against  all  Texas  products,  with  us,  is  a 
very  important  and  necessary  step  towards  the  future  safety  of  our  cotton 
crop. 

"With  our  past  experience  with  insect  pests,  we  are  in  a  position  to 
judge  of  the  great  damage  that  can  result  to  a  whole  community  by  the 
invasion  of  one  of  these  pests  brought  by  the  importing  of  feed  stuffs 
from  other  States  infected  with  these  insects. 

"Up  to  a  few  years  ago,  our  farmers  could  figure  on  a  good  average 
corn  crop  year  in  and  year  out,  but  within  the  last  three  years,  our  corn 
crops,  during  seasons  of  drought,  are  more  seriously  infected  by  the 
chintz  bug,  and  out  of  the  last  three  seasons,  we  have  made  but  one  good 
corn  crop,  due  to  this  pest.  Their  coming  to  our  parish  can  be  directly 
traced  to  the  importation  of  feed  stuffs  by  the  rice  farmers  from  some 
Western  State  infested  by  similar  pests.  I  believe  that  Prof.  Morgan,  of 
the  State  Agricultural  Station,  was,  three  years  ago,  called  upon  for 
help  to  destroy  this  pest,  but  so  far,  we  have  been  unable  to  destroy 
them,  and  they  cause  great  damage  during  the  growing  season  of  our 
corn  and  oat  crops,  if  the  season  happens  to  be  a  dry  one. 

"Our  experience  .with  the  chintz  bug  warns  us  to  make  most  serious 
endeavors  to  protect  ourselves  against  this  much  more  serious  danger  of 
the  invasion  of  the  boll  weevil,  and  we  appeal  to  you,  gentlemen  of  this 
Convention,  not  to  adjourn  the  Convention  until,  by  the  thorough  and 
dispassionate  discussion  of  this  most  important  question,  we  have  reached 
some  understanding  as  to  the  best  ways  and  means  to  keep  the  boll  weevil 
out  of  our  State. 

"The  Parish  of  Arcadia,  owing  to  its  diversity  of  farming  interests, 
is  probably  more  seriously  menaced  than  other  parishes  of  the  State, 
for  the  following  reasons : 

"You  will  often  find  on  the  same  section  of  land,  a  rice  farmer  who 
plants  from  one  to  two  acres  of  rice;  this  rice  farmer,  as  a  rule,  plants 
nothing  but  rice ;  he  owns  several  new  teams,  and  these  teams  must  have 
corn,  oats  and  hay;  not  raising  his  own  feed,  he  goes  to  town  and  buys 
from  a  feedstore  his  necessary  feed;  this  feed,  or  the  greater  portion  of 
the  same,  comes  fresh  from  the  State  of  Texas. 

frRight  on  north,  east,  west  and  south  of  this  rice  planter,  are  a  number 
of  honest  and  industrious  small  cotton  farmers,  who  have  been  struggling 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOLL  WEEVIL  CONVENTION.  47 

for  a  living  all  through  the  past  years  of  low  prices  of  cotton,  but  who 
to-day  are  prosperous  and  happy,  and  with  the  very  probable  good  prices 
of  cotton  for  the  next  few  years,  see  a  bright  future  for  their  prosperity 
and  for  the  welfare  of  their  families.  But  if  we  allow  this  rice  farmer  to 
destroy  this  hope  of  a  bright  future,  by  allowing  him  a  further  privilege 
of  obtaining  his  feed  from  any  section  he  may  see  fit,  without  regard  to  the 
prosperity  and  happiness  of  his  neighbor — cotton  farmers — we  then  be- 
come a  party  to  the  crime,  and  we,  as  business  men,  depending  for  our 
prosperity  upon  the  prosperity  of  the  cotton  farmer,  will  suffer  equally  as 
much. 

"The  objection  to  the  quarantine  idea  may  be  raised,  due  to  the  fact  that 
should  we  shut  out  Texas  products,  feed  stuffs  will  have  to  be  brought 
from  greater  distances,  thereby  increasing  the  cost  of  feed  bills  to  the 
rice  and  sugar  planters  of  the  State.  Whatever  increase  of  cost  this  may 
cause  would  not  be  the  one-hundredth  part  of  the  damage  brought  upon 
the  cotton  industry  should  it  be  infested  with  the  boll  weevil,  and  I 
know,  as  far  as  my  parish  is  concerned,  our  lands  are  so  fertile,  that  there 
is  no  acre  anywhere  to  be  found  that,  with  proper  cultivation  and  good 
drainage,  cannot  raise  as  good  corn,  oats  and  forage  crops  as  the  State  of 
Texas,  and  should  the  increased  cost  of  feed  be  such  as  to  teach  our  rice 
farmers,  the  necessity,  both  for  their  own  welfare  and  for  the  good  of 
our  parish,  of  their  raising  their  own  grain  and  forage  crops,  the  lesson 
will  prove  to  be  a  God-send  instead  of  a  hardship. 

"There  may  be  some  doubt  as  to  the  result  of  this  quarantine  not  keep- 
ing out  the  boll  weevil ;  we  claim  that  it  is  worth  trying,  and  by  enforcing 
it  strictly  and  providing  a  heavy  penalty  for  its  violation,  would  be  one 
of  the  best  means  to  try  to  keep  out  the  pest. 

"We  would  also  suggest  that  the  Legislature,  in  special  session,  be 
called  upon  to  enact  laws  for  the  strict  enforcement  of  this  quarantine, 
and  also  to  forbid  that  any  specimens  of  the  boll  weevil,  dead  or  alive, 
be  brought  from  Texas  into  our  State,  and  we  should  also  request  the. 
Postmaster  General  to  issue  strict  orders  to  all  postmasters  in  the  in- 
fested districts  of  Texas  to  prevent  the  mailing  of  any  insects  to  other 
parts  of  the  country. 

"These  measures,  together  with  any  other  measures  that  this  Conven- 
tion may  suggest,  that  would  result  in  making  a  most  serious  effort  in 
keeping  out  the  boll  weevil,  we  will  most  earnestly  support." 

Here  Capt.  Davenport  announced  that  there  would  be  a  meeting  of  the 
Committee  on  Resolutions  at  the  St.  Charles  Hotel,  at  8:30  o'clock  p.  m. 

The  Convention  thereupon  adjourned  to  Tuesday,  December  1st,  at  10 
o'clock. 


48  PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOLL   WEEVIL  CONVENTION. 

SECOND  DAY'S  PROCEEDINGS. 

MORNING  SESSION. 

Col.  Charles  Schuler  called  the  Convention  to  order  at  10:45  o'clock 
A.  M.  Before  proceeding  with  the  regular  program  of  the  day,  he  asked 
the  Secretary  to  read  the  following  telegram: 

LAKE  PROVIDENCE,  LA. 
HON.  CHARLES  SCHULER, 

President  Boll  Weevil  Convention,  N.  O.,  La. 

Regret  that  I  am  detained  here  by  very  important  business.  I  heartily 
approve  special  session  of  Legislature.  Am  deeply  interested  in  work 
before  Convention,  and  will  do  my  utmost  to  assist  in  carrying  out  its 
suggestions. 

JAMES  E.  RANSDELL, 

The  President  then  called  for  Hon.  F.  P.  Stubbs,  Sr.,  of  Monroe,  La., 
who  was  to  discuss  the  subject  of  the  "Planter's  Interest  in  Repelling 
the  Boll  Weevil,"  but  Mr.  Stubbs  was  detained  by  delayed  train  and  did 
not  reach  the  city  until  after  Convention  adjourned. 

Mr.  John  M.  Parker,  of  New  Orleans,  La.,  was  then  called,  and  dis- 
cussed the  subject  under  consideration,  from  the  standpoint  of  the  "Mer- 
chant's Interest,"  in  the  following  paper.  Before  reading  his  paper,  Mr. 
Parker  made  the  following  brief  remarks : 

Mr.  Chairman  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Convention — I  am  thoroughly 
agreeable  to  state  what  in  my  humble  opinion  are  the  strongest  possible 
reasons  why  not  only  the  governments  of  the  States,  but  the  Government 
of  the  United  States,  should  do  all  in  their  power  to  safeguard  the  ma- 
terial interests  of  the  cotton  growers  in  this  State  or  anywhere  else. 

MR.  PARKER'S  PAPER. 

Agricultural  success  and  manufacturing  activity  form  the  most  stable 
source  of  the  wealth  of  every  nation,  and,  of  the  two,  agricultural  success 
is  of  the  greater  importance  as  it  makes  a  people  sturdy,  independent, 
self-reliant  and  furnishes  a  large  portion  of  the  products  which  in  the 
planting,  cultivating,  gathering,  marketing,  transporting  and  manufactur- 
ing, give  employment  to  millions  in  every  walk  of  life,  enable  our  people 
to  be  large  exporters  and  make  this  great  country  a  world  power. 

No  one  product  is  of  more  intrinsic  value  than  cotton,  which  gives 
employment  to  every  class  of  labor  from  the  ignorant  and  illiterate  old- 
time  negro  all  the  way  up  to  skilled  mechanics,  men  of  science  and  to  the 
greatest  financiers,  who  every  fall  discuss  the  problem  of  money  needed 
to  move  the  crops,  and  by  our  exports  turn  the  balance  of  the  world's 
trade  in  our  favor. 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOLL  WEEVIL  CONVENTION.  49 

No  single  agricultural  crop  gives  such  constant  employment  to  so  large 
a  number  of  workers  in  such  diversified  lines,  and  the  success  and  pros- 
perity of  a  large  section  of  our  country  is  so  closely  linked  with  the  cul- 
tivation and  manufacturing  of  cotton  that  a  crop  disaster  would  be  a  na- 
tional calamity,  the  effects  of  which  would  not  be  local  only,  but  would 
be  keenly  felt  throughout  the  land. 

A  crop  failure  in  any  one  section  means  disaster  to  planter,  merchant 
and  banker  alike  and  a  repeated  crop  failure  means  ruin. 

The  transportation  charges  on  cotton  and  cotton  products  alone  amount 
to  more  than  $25,000,000  annually  and  the  transportation  of  bagging,  ties, 
gins,  machinery,  compresses,  farm  implements,  mules,  horses  and  labor  to 
gather  the  crops  amount  to  nearly  as  much  more,  to  say  nothing  of  the 
immense  sums  paid  for  transporting  feed,  provisions  and  other  supplies 
necessary  for  the  planter  and  his  hands. 

Destroy  our  cotton  crop  and  what  would  be  the  value  of  the  stocks  and 
bonds  of  the  transportation  lines  which  now  traverse  the  entire  cotton 
belt? 

The  rich  and  thriving  manufacturing  towns  of  New  England  keep 
close  watch  on  our  growing  crop,  and  consumption  seems  already  to  have 
outstripped  production,  and  the  cry  is  for  more  cotton. 

Destroy  our  cotton  crop,  stop  every  spindle  in  New  England  and 
Southern  mills  and  what  untold  misery  and  suffering  would  be  inflicted 
on  thousands  of  operatives  and  what  would  be  the  ultimate  results  of  the 
widespread  disaster  to  the  farmer,  merchant,  capitalist  and  banker? 

A  total  and  repeated  failure  of  the  cotton  crop  would  practically 
bankrupt  every  merchant  and  banker  in  the  cotton  belt,  and  the  results 
Of  such  a  far-reaching  disaster  would  be  ruinous  to  the  general  financial 
interests  of  the  United  States. 

While  cotton  is  produced  in  the  South  only,  the  East,  North  and  West 
are  vitally  interested  in  good  crops  being  raised  and  it  is  of  national 
importance  that  for  all  time  this  vast  country  of  ours  should  be  recog- 
nized as  the  greatest  cotton  producing  country  of  the  world. 

In  these  days  of  keen  commercial  competition  we  find  Great  Britain, 
Russia,  Germany,  France  and  many  of  the  small  nations  making  an 
earnest  effort  to  raise  cotton  in  competition  with  the  American  product. 
While  none  of  this  competition  promises  to  be  serious  it  is  wise  to  keep 
vigilant  guard  and  adopt  heroic  measures  against  any  pest  which  may 
threaten  our  crops  or  our  supremacy  as  cotton  producers.  Nature  has 
been  most  lavish  in  her  gifts  to  the  South — a  glorious  climate,  nearly 
every  variety  of  minerals  and  metals,  large  forests  of  choice  timber  and 
millions  of  the  most  fertile  and  productive  acres,  capable  of  producing 
nearly  every  agricultural  product  and  especially  adapted  to  cotton. 

We  can  produce  that  staple  product  more  easily,  more  economically 
and  more  profitably  than  any  nation  on  the  globe,  and  it  is  our  individual 


5O  PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOLL  WEEVIL  CONVENTION. 

duty  and  the  imperative  duty  of  the  Government  of  the  United  States 
to  do  all  in  our  power  to  so  safeguard  and  augment  our  crops  of  cotton 
that  we  can  promptly  and  profitably  supply  the  wants  of  the  universe. 

Barely  a  month  ago  at  a  great  convention  held  in  this  city,  representa- 
tive men  from  the  far  West,  from  the  East  and  from  the  Northern  and 
Central  States  pleaded  earnestly  and  eloquently  for  liberal  appropriations 
from  the  National  Government  to  properly  protect  our  rich  delta  lands 
from  overflow  and  enable  us  to  plant  larger  crops  of  cotton,  and  it  was 
my  privilege  and  pleasure  to  read  to  that  convention  a  letter  from  Presi- 
dent Roosevelt  expressing  his  cordial  sympathy. 

I  am  sure  I  violate  no  confidence  when  I  quote  from  my  friend 
Ransdell's  personal  letter:  "I  have  just  come  from  a  very  satisfactory 
visit  to  the  President,  who  has  taken  a  keen  interest  in  the  suppression 
of  the  boll  weevil,  and  who  will  bring  the  matter  before  Congress  urging 
that  means  be  taken  to  eradicate  the  pest." 

However  strongly  many  of  us  differ  politically  with  our  Chief  Execu- 
tive, his  sturdy  manhood  is  unquestioned,  and  he  says  what  he  means  and 
does  what  he  promises ;  so  with  the  aid  of  the  Government,  the  asssistance » 
and  experience  of  their  entomologists,  and  co-operation  of  practical 
planters  and  patriotic  citizens,  some  method  must  and  should  be  devised 
to  not  only  hold  in  check  but  completely  eradicate  the  boll  weevil. 

At  the  end  of  his  paper,  Mr.  Parker  made  the  following  further  observa- 
tions, to-wit: 

Mr.  Parker. — Gentlemen,  the  subject  given  me  for  consideration  is  one 
so  large,  so  broad,  that  I  feel  that  I  could  stand  here  and  talk  of  it,  no 
doubt,  all  day.  The  failure  of  the  cotton  crop  means  more  to  the  United 
States  than  any  one  can  very  well  imagine.  Destroy  our  cotton  crop,  and 
what  will  be  the  value  of  the  stocks  and  bonds  and  securities  of  the  rail- 
roads that  transport  our  cotton  crop?  There  is  not  a  single  branch  of 
industry,  throughout  this  whole  country,  that  is  not  vitally  benefitted  by 
our  crops,  but  over  and  beyond  that,  we  have  a  duty,  an  imperative  duty 
almost  to  the  whole  world,  because  we  are  the  only  people  that  can  supply 
it  with  the  necessary  output  of  cotton.  There  is  not  a  single  concern  that 
is  not  interested  in  this  qeustion.  The  manufacturers  of  New  England, 
the  mills  of  Pittsburgh,  the  farmers  of  the  Middle  West,  the  agricultural 
progress  of  the  Central  States,  the  manufacturers  of  machinery,  whether 
of  plows,  harrows,  or  hoes ;  all  of  them  are  so  vitally  interested,  so  clearly 
interested  in  this  matter,  that  my  firm  belief  is  that  an  earnest  appeal  to 
the  United  States  Government  is  bound  to  result  in  its  ready  and  cordial 
support;  and,  with  its  assistance,  we  will  do  away,  for  all  time  to  come, 
with  the  danger  from  the  boll  weevil. 

The   President. — The  next  number   on  the  program   is   the    "Banker's 
Interest,"  by  Hon.    Samuel   McC.  Lawrason,  of  St.   Francisville,  La.     In 
the  absence  of  Mr.  Lawrason,  we  will  pass  that  number,  and  we  will  take 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOLL  WEEVIL  CONVENTION.  51 

up  the  "Oil  Mills'  Interest,"  by  Mr.  T.  P.  Sullivan,  of  Alexandria,  La. 
We  take  great  pleasure  in  producing  Mr.  T.  P.  Sullivan,  who  is  thoroughly 
familiar  with  the  oil  business. 
Mr.  Sullivan  read  the  following  paper: 

MR.  SULLIVAN'S  PAPER. 

"I  have  been  requested  to  deliver  an  address  before  this  Convention 
on  "Oil  Mills'  Interest."  My  remarks  on  this  will  be  necessarily  brief,  as 
the  time  of  this  Convention  has  been  profitably  employed  discussing  the 
means  of  repelling. the  boll  weevil,  by  scientists  who  have  devoted  a  great 
deal  of  thought  and  time  to  this  seeming  sectional,  national,  and  unless 
suppressed,  I  might  say,  universal  calamity. 

"The  ravages  of  this  insect,  as  you  are  told  by  State  and  National 
entomologists,  are  the  most  destructive  that  have  ever  attacked  the  prinr 
cipal  agricultural  interests  of  the  South,  viz:  its  great  staple — cotton. 
The  curtailment  of  this  product  is  felt  throughout  the  habitable  globe 
where  articles  of  cotton  mannfacture  are  exchanged  or  sold.  To  relieve 
this  threatened  cotton  famine  that  menaces  Louisiana  and  the  cotton  grow- 
ing States,  every  faculty  of  thought  and  expression  of  the  citizens  of  this 
and  other  States  are  invoked  with  the  assurance  of  all  the  aid  at  the 
power  of  the  National  Government.  The  cotton  planters  of  the  South 
are  no  more  interested  in  repelling  and  exterminating  the  Mexican  boll 
weevil  than  the  cotton  seed  oil  millers,  for  various  reasons.  We  have  an 
allied  interest  in  the  production  and  growth  of  cotton,  claiming  rela- 
tionship by  virtue  of  the  crowning  of  cotton  as  king  with  cotton  seed  as 
queen,  and  the  cotton  seed  oil  industry  as  the  offspring  of  that  domestic 
relationship.  Is  it  not  natural,  therefore,  when  the  head  of  the  family 
is  threatened  with  a  direful  calamity,  the  devoted  wife  and  offspring 
should  be  the  first  to  the  rescue.  Blood  is  thicker  than  water,  and  you 
can  always  rely  on  the  cotton  seed  oil  miller  standing  shoulder  to  shoulder 
with  the  cotton  planter  in  repelling  the  encroachments  of  anything  that 
is  a  menace  to  the  growth  and  cultivation  of  cotton.  As  a  proof  of  the 
interest  manifested  by  the  cotton  seed  oil  mills  of  the  South  in  repelling 
the  boll  weevil,  the  President  of  the  Interstate  Cotton  Seed  Crushers' 
Association,  Mr.  A.  H.  D.  Perkins,  of  Pine  Bluff,  Ark.,  appointed  dele- 
gates from  all  the  cotton  States,  of  whom  I  was  one,  to  attend  the  Con- 
vention held  at  Dallas,  Texas,  last  month,  in  the  same  interest  that  has 
brought  about  this  convention.  The  cotton  seed  oil  millers  stand  ready 
with  their  means  and  their  intelligence  to  give  whatever  is  in  their  power 
to  strangle  and  exterminate  this  pest  of  foreign  growth  and  uninvited 
immigration.  At  a  meeting  of  the  Planters  of  North  Louisiana  held  at 
Shreveport,  the  latter  part  of  last  September,  our  State  Entomologist,  Mr. 
Morgan,  stated  that  this  troublesome  and  death-dealing  insect  of  the 


52  PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOLL  WEEVIL  CONVENTION. 

cotton  crop  could  be  imported  in  cotton  seed,  seed  cotton,  cotton  ana  hay. 
It  was  then  suggested  that  these  commodities  should  be  quarantined  as 
coming  from  Texas.  To  this  demand  for  quarantine  the  oil  mills  all 
responded  without  a  murmur  that  they  would  sacrifice  that  part  of  their 
inheritance,  and  would  not  bring  any  cotton  seed  from  Texas  into  Louisi- 
ana. I  am  sorry  to  say  that  the  interests  importing  the  other  commodi- 
ties did  not  respond  with  the  same  alacrity  but  took  it  under  considera- 
tion. 

At  the  meetings  mentioned  at  Shreveport  and  Dallas  I  listened  with 
attention  to  "the  great  number  of  scientific  researches,  experiments  and 
advancd  ideas  for  the  destruction  of  the  boll  weevil,  but  all  resulted 
without  giving  any  positive  cure.  Nothing  but  recommendations  with  the 
hope  that  a  parasite  would  in  the  order  of  Providence  develop  itself  that 
would  exterminate  the  pest.  I  shudder  at  the  job  that  confronts  this 
parasite,  after  reading  that,  a  male  and  female  weevil  .in  the  fullness  of 
their  domestic  felicity  can  develop  an  offspring  of  314,000,000  in  one 
season.  This  I  learned  from  an  article  in  one  of  your  daily  papers.  In 
the  furtherance  of  my  interest  for  repelling  and  combatting  this  pes- 
tilential immigrant,  it  occurred  to  me  that  his  native  country,  Mexico, 
must  have  some  practical  way  of  handling  him,  as  we  never  heard  of  his 
destructiveness  in  that  country  to  any  malignant  extent.  To  satisfy 
myself  I  dictated  a  letter  to  a  friend  of  mine,  the  largest  manufacturer 
of  soap,  candles  and  cotton  seed  oil  in  the  Republic  of  Mexico,  and  who 
controls  about  all  the  cotton  seed  raised  from  cotton  in  the  State  of 
Durango,  the  only  State  in  Mexico  in  which  cotton  is  raised  to  any  extent. 
Here  is  his  reply  to  my  queries : 

"GOMEZ  PALACCIO,  September  30th,  1903. 

"Mv  DEAR  FRIEND— Replying  to  your  favor  of  the  25th  inst,  I  beg  to 
say  that  I  will  do  my  best  to  answer  your  questions  in  regard  to  the  boll 
weevil  in  Mexico: 

"It  has  been  demonstrated  in  this  country,  year  after  year,  that  the  boll 
weevil  is  always  with  us,  but  that  he  cannot  multiply  nor  ravage  the 
cotton  crops.  The  planters  claim  that  the  only  means  known  to  destroy 
the  boll  weevil,  or  at  least  to  limit  his  ability  to  destroying  little  or  no- 
thing, is  by_^drojauiing ;  or  in  fact  the  same  method  as  was  used  by  the 
vineyard  owners  in  Southern  France  when  their  vines  were  being  de- 
stroyed by  the  Philoxera.  The  planters  here  kill  two  birds  with  the 
same  stone.  They  kill  all  kinds  of  vermin  and  especially  the  boll  weevil 
and  at  the  same  time  wet  the  ground  ready  for  ploughing,  by  inundating 
the  plantations.  They  pursue  the  method  of  erecting  around  each  plan- 
tation, or  parts  of  each  plantation,  a  small  dyke  about  one  meter  high, 
and  fill  this  enclosure  up  with  a  three-fourths  meter  depth  of  water. 
They  claim  that  this  drowns  out  all  the  vermin,  and  at  the  same  time 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOLL  WEEVIL  CONVENTION.  53 

gives  them  all  the  necessary  moisture  to  plant  a  good  crop  of  cotton. 
Where  they  do  not  inundate  they  do  not  plant  cotton,  but  put  in  corn, 
wheat  and  truck. 

"You  will  please  present  this  solution  of  the  problem  to  your  execu- 
tive committee  on  the  boll  weevil  prize,  and  at  the  same  time  enter  my 
claim  for  the  $50,000  premium. 

"The  State  Governments  here,  have  each  appointed  a  technical  commis- 
sion of  entomologists  to  constantly  look  out  for  infested  cotton  planta- 
tions or  infested  cotton  seed.  In  the  first  instance  they  burn  the  cotton 
plants  on  the  plantation  and  pay  a  just  indemnity  to  the  planter;  in  the 
second  instance  they  order  the  cotton  seed  delivered  to  our  mills  here, 
and  oblige  us  to  burn  the  hulls,  lint  and  refuse,  thereby  saving  the  oil  and 
cake. 

"I  have  been  here  since  1892  constantly,  and  have  heard  of  no  ravages 
by  the  boli  weevil,  although  you  can  find  him  very  easily,  but  in  very 
insignificant  numbers. 

"Trusting  this  information  will  be  useful  to  you,  and  with  kindest  re- 
gards, T  remain,  "Yours  very  sincerely, 

(Signed)         "JUAN  F.  BRITTINGHAM." 

"The  method  set  forth  in  this  letter  may  not  commend  itself  to  the 
scientist  nor  the  practical  planter  who  has  never  encountered  any  obstacle 
toward  raising  a  profitable  cotton  crop,  but  we  are  here  to  consider  any 
and  all  suggestions,  eliminating  those  that  are  impractical  and  adopting 
those  that  commend  themselves  to  us,  and  as  was  suggested  by  the  Sec- 
retary of  Agriculture,  at  Dallas,  every  cotton  planter  must  resolve  him- 
self into  an  experimental  station  on  all  the  methods  that  have  been  set 
before  him.  The  individual  financial  interest  of  the  cotton  seed  oil 
miller  is  most  paramount,  if  as  stated  in  numerous  statistics  that  the  de- 
struction to  the  cotton  crop  of  Texas  each  year  for  the  past  two  years 
has  been  twenty  per  cent,  of  her  production  being  a  low  estimate.  Should 
this  be  extended  to  the  cotton  belt  it  would  mean  of  last  year's  crop  at 
present  prices  of  ten  and  one-half  cents,  $112,875,000,  thus  reducing  the 
volume  of  cotton  seed  to  be  crushed  by  the  oil  mills  if  they  were  all 
crushing  seed,  viz :  618  mills,  about  800,000  tons  of  seed,  or  in  other  words 
it  would  throw  twenty  per  cent,  of  618  mills  into  the  "National  Pawn 
Shop,"  which  means  in  the  hands  of  a  receiver,  and  reduce  the  values 
produced  from  cotton  seed  and  its  products  at  least  20,000,000  of  dollars 
annually,  besides  paralyzing  the  remaining  mills,  who  would  no  doubt 
scramble  among  themselves  for  seed  to  demonstrate  the  survival  of  the 
fittest,  reducing  the  profit  sharing  to  such  a  minimum  that  the  capital  in- 
vested in  cotton  seed  oil  mills  would  be  compelled  to  remain  passive  and 
await  the  developments  of  this  national  crusade  against  this  rapacious 
enemy  of  the  South's  progress  and  manifest  destiny  of  supplying  the 


54  PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOLL  WEEVIL  CONVENTION. 

world  with  ttie  products  of  cotton  seed,  viz:  cotton,  cotton  seed  oil  and 
oil  cake.  In  the  furtherance  of  this  crusade  the  assistance  of  the  cotton 
seed  oil  mills  in  repelling  the  boll  weevil  must  be  conspicuously  to  the 
front." 

Mr.  Wm.  E.  Glassel,  of  Caddo.— Mr.  President,  I  would  like  to  say  that 
since  the  boll  weevil  discussion  came  up,  I  wrote  to  every  oil  mill,  begging 
them  not  to  bring  in  any  infected  seed  from  the  State  of  Texas.  Every 
oil  mill  man  in  the  State  responded,  that  they  would  not  bring  in  any 
seed  infected.  Some  of  the  merchants  hesitated  to  make  that  promise. 
Since  that  time,  however,  I  want  to  say  that  every  wholesaler  and  every 
retailer  has  signed  an  agreement  not  to  bring  in  anything  from  the  State 
of  Texas,  where  the  boll  weevil  exists. 

The  President.— That  simply  goes  to  show  the  patriotic  action  of  the 
merchants  as  well  as  the  oil  mill  people  of  Shreveport. 

The  President.— Providence,  in  its  way,  has  provided  a  remedy  that, 
to  some  extent  at  least,  destroys  all  insect  enemies  to  plants.  I  have  been 
reliably  informed  that  until  the  destruction,  the  almost  wholesale  de- 
sruction,  of  the  prairie  hen  on  the  prairies  of  Southwest  Texas,  the  boll 
weevil  was  not  known.  Birds,  in  their  way,  destroy  a  great  many  insects. 
I  have  been  told,  at  the  Dallas  Convention,  that  one  gentleman,  a  scien- 
tist, from  Texas,  made  the  statement  that  the  daily  ration  of  a  partridge 
was  about  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  v/eevils.  Therefore,  it  is  with 
great  pleasure  that  I  introduce  the  next  speaker,  Mr.  Frank  M.  Muller, 
president  of  the  Audubon  Society  of  New  Orleans,  who  will  discuss  the 
subject  of  "Birds  in  Relation  to  the  Boll  Weevil." 

Mr.  Muller  appeared  to  be  absent  just  at  this  moment.  The  President 
inquired  whether  any  other  gentleman  present  would  speak  upon  the 
subject  assigned  Mr.  Stubbs.  Thereupon,  Mr.  F.  L.  Maxwell,  of  Mad- 
ison, suggested  that  if  there  were  present  any  practical  farmer  who  had 
had  occasion  to  be  in  a  boll  weevil  district,  or  to  have  had  any  exper- 
ience with  that  insect,  the  Convention  would  be  glad  to  hear  from  him 
Then  some  one  called  for  Mr.  B.  W.  Marston,  of  Red  River  Parish.  Mr. 
Marston  ascended  the  platform,  and  spoke  as  follows: 

Mr.  Chairman:  I  feel  that  I  can  tell  you  what  I  don't  know  better 
than  what  I  do  know  about  the  boll  weevil.  It  was  my  fortune,  about 
two  years  ago,  to  be  in  Southern  Texas,  and  I  visited  one  of  those  boll 
weevil  farms.  I  had  seen  the  destruction  of  the  caterpillar,  and  I  had 
had  something  to  do  with  destroying  them;  but  when  I  went  into  that 
field  in  Texas,  and  saw  the  destruction  there,  I  was  appalled.  I  had 
never  seen  anything  to  equal  it,  in  any  of  the  cotton  ravages  of  the  cater- 
pillar. When  I  state  that  there  was  not  a  single  solitary  boll  or  form  left 
in  that  field,  that  was  not  infected,  or  destroyed,  I  do  not  overstate  the 
matter  at  all. 

Notwithstanding  that,  gentlemen,  though  I  do  not  like  to  say  it  before 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOLL  WEEVIL  CONVENTION.  55 

this  audience,  the  boll  weevil  has  never  had  any  terrors  for  me.  I  be- 
lieve that  we  can  destroy  the  boll  weevil  just  as  easy  as  we  can  destroy 
the  caterpillar.  1  know  that  we  can  destroy  the  boll  worm.  I  have 
demonstrated  that  to  my  entire  satisfaction.  I  went  into  my  field,  a 
few  years  ago,  and  laid  out  poison  for  the  boll  worm,  and  I  do  not 
think  I  exaggerate,  when  I  say  that  I  destroyed  every  single  solitary  one 
in  that  field.  I  went  three  days  after  setting  out  the  poison  and  I  found 
them  dead,  in  every  shape,  manner  or  form.  I  went  into  my  neighbor's 
field  and  I  found  there  millions  at  work;  that  proved  to  me  conclusively 
that  the  boll  weevil  could  be  reached. 

Now,  they  tell  me  that  this -boll  weevil  does  not  eat  anything  but  the 
inside  of  the  forms  of  the  bolls.  I  know  that  they  come,  out  of  these 
forms,  because,  upon  opening  one  of  these  forms,  one  day,  quite  a  number 
of  them  flew  out  and  flew  away.  A  great  many  others  played  possum, 
lay  there  and  appeared  to  be  dead.  I  gathered  quite  a  number,  in  these 
forms,  of  these  boll  weevils,  and  brought  them  home,  kept  them  well 
corked  up,  however;  none  of  them  got  away.  It  was  not  many  days 
before  one  of  my  Texas  neighbors  brought  over  to  our  house  what  he 
called  a  boll  weevil.  1  put  it  in  with  the  others,  and  I  could  not  see 
any  difference.  So  I  believe  then  that  we  have  had  the  boll  weevil  for 
a  number  of  years. 

It  was  only  the  other  day,  after  a  heavy  frost  at  home,  that  one  of  my 
Texas  neighbors  brought  me  a  half-grown  weevil,  and  it  was  dead.  Now, 
they  say  that  the  full-grown  weevil  won't  die  from  exposure  to  the 
weather.  I  don't  know  about  that,  but  this  one  was  about  half  grown, 
and  it  was  certainly  dead. 

Something  has  transpired  or  developed  in  this  Convention  that  I  think 
is  of  the  utmost  importance  to  us :  that  where  precautions  have  been 
taken,  the  boll  weevil  has  not  carried  the  terrors,  in  some  of  my  friends' 
opinions,  that  it  has  had  for  us.  Because  we  hear  it  stated  here  that  full 
crops  of  cotton  have  been  grown  right  in  the  boll  weevil  district.  A 
friend  of  mine  told  me  that  he  had  just  visited  Texas,  and  he  saw  a 
first-class  crop  of  cotton  right  in  the  center  of  the  boll  weevil  district; 
that  this  crop  of  cotton  had  been  raised  upon  a  field  where  the  gentle- 
man, the  year  before,  had  turned  his  cattle  in  and  had  destroyed  every 
vestige  of  cotton  after  the  first  picking,  and  there  in  that  particular  field, 
a  full  crop  of  cotton  had  been  raised  this  year. 

I  do  not  say  this  to  show  that  we  are  not  right  in  what  we  are  doing 
here  to-day,  because  we  know  that  this  boll  weevil  is  possibly  the  most 
destructive  insect  that  has  ever  struck  the  cotton  crop,  and  we  have  to 
do  everything  in  our  power  to  get  him  out  of  the  State.  But  I  think,  be- 
yond the  shadow  of  a  doubt,  he  will  be  kept  out,  and  the  terror  of  him 
will  disappear  just  as  the  terror  of  the  caterpillar  has  disappeared.  (Ap- 
plause. "> 


56  PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOLL  WEEVIL  CONVENTION. 

Mr.  Davis,  of  Caldwell,  wished  to  know  of  Captain  Marston  how  he 
succeeded  in  poisoning  the  boll  weevil. 

Captain  Marston:  This,  gentlemen,  is  quite  a  long  story.  If  I  were 
to  tell  you  how  many  years  I  fought  the  caterpillar,  you  would  hardly 
believe  it;  from  1867,  day  and  night,  until  I  destroyed  the  caterpillar.  I 
did  the  same  thing  with  the  boll  worm.  I  went  to  work,  and  found  in 
every  manner,  shape  and  form,  the  habits  of  this  boll  worm.  I  found 
that  he  hibernated  in  the  ground.  I  do  not  like  to  say  anything  in  my 
own  favor,  right  now,  but  I  think  I  am  the  first  man  that  informed  the 
United  States  Government  that  the  caterpillar  hibernaed  in  this  country. 
It  was  thought  the  caterpillar  came  over  from  the  West  Indies,  from 
South  America,  every  year,  just  as  the  birds  of  passage  do.  I  found 
that  the  caterpillar  hibernated  here.  I  found  a  cotton  caterpillar  fly  on 
my  window  one  February  day,  when  the  snow  was  on  the  ground.  I 
gathered  him  up  and  put  him  in  a  glass,  and  I  sprinkled  the  least  quantity 
of  paris  green  on  a  leaf  and  put  it  in  the  glass  with  him.  He  had  no- 
thing else  to  eat,  and  the  next  morning  he  was  dead.  I  knew  we  had 
the  honey  dew  upon  the  cotton  over  night,  and  I  moistened  a  little  sugar, 
and  sweetened  the  leaf  for  him. 

When  I  went  into  my  fields  to  destroy  the  caterpillar  fly  I  had  no  idea 
that  I  would  catch  the  boll  worm,  but  we  did  catch  every  single  solitary 
one  of  them.  I  found  that  every  boll  worm  in  my  field  had  been  de- 
stroye^d. 

Now,  as  to  how  I  got  on  to  the  caterpillar.  I  had  a  number  of  workers 
in  my  field  one  day,  when  the  caterpillar  was  coming,  and  I  did  not  want 
to  discourage  the  darkies.  So  I  got  the  least  quantity  of  paris  green, 
and  I  went  way  out  into  the  fields,  beyond  where  the  darkies  were  at 
work,  and  I  found  a  full-grown  caterpillar  nibbling  on  a  leaf,  and  without 
any  thought  of  what  I  was  doing,  at  the  time,  I  dropped  the  least  possi- 
ble amount  of  paris  green  in  front  of  him.  Well,  in  a  moment  he  was  dy- 
ing. I  saw  him  hold  up  his  head,  as  if  it  was  kind  of  burning.  He 
stopped  eating.  I  saw  that,  so  I  gathered  him,  and  put  him  on  a  fresh 
leaf,  but  the  next  morning  he  was  dead. 

The  idea  struck  me  that  that  was  the  best  way  to  kill  them,  and  by 
12  o'clock  I  had  twenty  negroes  walking  over  my  field  distributing  the 
poison. 

I  believe,  notwithstanding  what  these  Texas  people  say,  that  the  boll 
weevil  can  be  reached  in  just  the  same  way.  I  believe  these  boll  weevils 
come  up  at  night,  and  eat  the  honey  dew,  and  if  the  cotton  is  properly 
poisoned,  at  the  right  time,  you  will  catch  the  grown  boll  weevil.  When 
they  come  into  the  Red  River  Bottom,  gentlemen,  I  am  going  for  them. 
(Applause.) 

Just  here  several  voices  called  for  Professor  Stubbs,  who  took  the  floor 
and  made  the  following  remarks: 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  UOLL  WEEVIL  CONVENTION.  57 

Professor  Stubbs. — Gentlemen,  I  am  not  going  to  say  much — 1  fixed  up 
a  programme,  so  as  to  give  you,  as  I  thought,  a  very  interesting  dis- 
cussion of  this  dreaded  pest  which  now  threatens  our  State.  For  the  last 
four  or  five  months,  and  ever  since  we  were  inoculated  at  Audubon  Park, 
last  summer,  we  have  been  giving  almost  undivided  attention  to  the 
study  of  this  insect.  The  entomologist  of  our  stations  has  been  very 
busy  studying  its  habits  ever  since  that  time. 

It  was  my  good  fortune  and  pleasure  to  attend  a  convention  at  Dallas, 
and  there  listen  to  all  the  reports  that  were  made  at  that  convention.  I 
took  occasion,  while  in  Texas,  also  to  travel  over  a  good  many  of  the 
cotton  fields  of  the  State;  and  I  came  back  thoroughly  impressed  with 
the  idea  that  Louisiana  had  to  do  something  to  keep  this  insect  out  of 
our  borders.  This  Convention  was  called  for  that  purpose,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  determining  whether  or  not  you  gentlemen,  after  hearing  the  case, 
would  decide  that  an  extra  session  of  the  Legislature  was  needed,  and  if 
so,  that  you  might  call  upon  the  Governor  to  call  this  extra  session  and 
have  the  necessary  legislation  enacted  as  soon  as  possible. 

Now,  as  to  the  general  character  of  the  legislation  .to  be  enacted,  your 
legislative  committee  will  to-day  make  a  report,  and  I  am  sure  in  your 
resolutions  you  will  resolve  unanimously  to  call  upon  our  Governor  for 
this  extra  session.  Having  made  that  call,  the  next  thing  will  be  to  enact 
suitable  legislation.  What  legislation  is  required,  I  am  sure  the  wisdom  of 
this  Convention  will  determine  before  we  adjourn. 

But,  gentlemen,  the  danger  is  imminent.  Those  who  may  laugh  at  the 
boll  weevil  and  say  it  is  an  insignificant  disturber  of  the  peace  of  the 
cotton  planter  are  very  much  mistaken. 

The  president  of  the  cotton  convention  at  Dallas,  in  his  inaugural  ad- 
dress, said  that  it  was  the  greatest  bull  on  our  cotton  market;  that  he, 
together  with  Brown,  had  last  year  put  the  price  of  cotton  very  high; 
but  Brown  had  retired  with  profits,  while  this  boll  weevil  was  still  at  it, 
would  remain  with  us.  That  was  the  language  of  the  president  in  his 
inaugural  address. 

I  want  to  say  further  that,  as  you  heard  from  most  of  our  speakers  yes- 
terday, this  boll  weevil  thrives  best  in  the  alluvial  lands  of  Louisiana. 
The  reason  was  given  you  yesterday.  In  sandy  or  poor  land,  where  the 
cotton  does  not  attain  a  high  growth,  the  squares  containing  the  larvae 
are  dried  up  and  the  insect  never  matures.  But  when  we  strike  alluvial 
lands,  the  conditions  are  such  as  to  multiply  that  insect  so  rapidly  that 
it  is  estimated  that  ninety  per  cent,  of  the  eggs  that  are  laid  in  a  square 
are  hatched.  Now,  one  of  your  friends  told  you  yesterday  of  the  enor- 
mous possibilities  of  development.  He  also  told  you  of  the  habits  of 
these  insects.  They  remain  in  winter  quarters  until  the  cotton  is  strong 
enough  to  give  them  life  and  work.  During  fifteen  days,  they  grow  and 
develop,  and  then  they  are  ab;e  to  reproduce  themselves,  so  that  at  the 


58  PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOLL  WEEVIL  CONVENTION. 

end  of  a  season  one  of  them  is  able  to  count  a  number  of  grandchildren 
of  many  generations.  Each  female  insect  is  capable  of  destroying  irom 
200  to  300  bolls  of  cotton.  Now,  did  you  ever  calculate  and  see  how 
many  pounds  of  cotton  can  be  destroyed  by  them  in  a  season.  One  hun- 
dred bolls  of  cotton  will  make  a  pound  of  lint.  One  of  these  individuals, 
in  the  full  exercise  of  life  and  vigor,  will  inoculate  from  two  to  three 
hundred  squares.  That  is  two  or  three  pounds  of  cotton  for  every  in- 
sect. Now,  I  believe  it  has  been  shown  that  a  pair  of  weevils  in  one 
season  can  multiply  to  one  hundred  and  twenty-eight  millions.  But,  at 
any  rate,  seven  or  eight  millions  have  been  produced,  as  ascertained  by 
actual  count.  Now,  take  just  seven  or  eight  million  insects,  and  let  each 
one  of  them  do  his  duty,  and  count  how  many  pounds  of  cotton  they  will 
destroy. 

I  am  saying  this  to  demonstrate,  gentlemen,  the  necessity  of  using  every 
effort,  in  the  way  of  quarantine,  police  and  expropriation,  anything  to 
keep  out  this  weevil  from  our  midst. 

I  must  say  to  you,  gentlemen,  that  I  have  been  working  along  the 
scientific  and  practical  side  of  Southern  agriculture  for  33  years.  I  stand 
before  you  to-day  to  address  a  meeting  of  planters  similar  to  those  that 
I  addressed  33  years  ago.  I  have  seen  the  ups  and  downs  of  Southern 
agriculture.  I  have  seen  our  planters  almost  in  despair,  in  despondency, 
but  I  say  to-day  that  you  never  had  a  danger  confronting  you  so  great  as 
this  which  is  coming,  and  if  you  do  not  stop  it,  when  it  comes,  it  will 
come  to  stay.  It  behooves  each  and  every  one  of  you  to  give  your  sup- 
port to  this  Convention,  and  if  we  have  an  extra  session  of  the  Legisla- 
ture, this  Legislature  should  be  asked  to  appoint  some  body  with  all  the 
quarantine,  police  and  expropriation  powers  of  the  State  delegated  to  it. 
And  whilst  some  of  you  may  have  to  suffer,  some  o*  you'  fields  may 
have  to  be  destroyed,  some  may  have  to  be  sacrificed  upon  the  altar  of 
patriotism,  I  beg  each  and  every  one  of  you  to  make  up  your  minds  to 
stand  ready  for  the  sacrifice,  if  necessary,  as  a  soldier  must  do  so  on  the 
field  of  battle.  You  will  have  to  stand  it  for  your  country's  good.  We 
do  not  know  who  may  be  the  first  victim.  Somebody  may  have  to  suffer ; 
for  we  must  keep  the  boll  weevil  out  of  this  State.  Make  up  your  minds 
that  whatever  calamity  may  befall  you  individually,  if  your  property 
should  be  destroyed,  it  will  be  for  the  good  of  the  State.  We  have 
everything  to  gain  by  united  and  co-operative  action  on  the  part  of  the 
planters,  and  we  hope  we  will  be  able  to  say  that  in  the  war  with  the 
weevil  we  have*  successfully  stopped  the  enemy  upon  the  confines  of  the 
western  borders  of  our  State. 

I  know  that  it  is  a  great  problem.  I  know  that  it  is  a  problem  almost 
too  serious  to  contemplate.  When  we  talk  about  quarantine  inspection  of 
every  car,  inspection  of  everything  that  comes  from  the  State  of  Texas 
into  this  State;  when  we  talk  about  prohibiting  communication  between 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOLL  WEEVIL  CONVENTION.  59 

Texas  and  this  State,  I  know  it  is  hard  to  accomplish.  But,  my  friends, 
you  remember  that  our  great  leader  Robert  E.  Lee  in  his  farewell  address 
at  Appomatox  said  human  fortitude  was  equal  to  human  calamity,  and  the 
day  that  we  undertake  this  task,  each  more  than  ever  determined  to  do 
his  duty,  I  believe  we  can  overcome  this  calamity  and  accomplish  a  great 
victory. 

The  President— Gentlemen,  Mr.  Muller,  of  the  Audubon  Society,  »s 
now  here,  and  will  address  the  Convention  on  the  subject  of  "Birds  in 
Relation  to  the  Boll  Weevil."  I  take  great  pleasure  in  introducing  to  the 
Convention  the  gentleman  whom  I  have  just  named. 

Mr.  Muller. — I  wish  to  make  a  correction.  I  am ;  not  the  president,, 
but  I  am  a  member  of  the  Audubon  Society,  and  I  think  everyone  inter- 
ested in  bird  protection  should  be  a  member  of  this  society. 

Yesterday,  I  sat  here  and  listened  to  the  addresses  of  all  the  gentle- 
men who  addressed  you,  and  as  one  after  the  other  concluded  and  no 
reference  was  made  to  the  question  of  bird  protection,  my  amazement 
turned  into  despair ;  and  when  I  left  here  last  night,  I  felt  very  bad  about 
it,  that  birds  had  no  champion  at  all.  I  learned,  however,  that  the  birds 
have  friends,  although  they  did  not  express  their  sentiments  yesterday, 
'and  that  their  interests  will  be  protected. 

With  these  few  words  of  introduction,  I  will  make  what  few  remarks 
I  am  permitted  to  make.  To  express  myself  in  scientific  terms,  so  that 
you  would  understand  thoroughly  this  question,  would  take  a  long  time, 
probably  two  hours.  But  I  shall  confine  myself  within  the  limits  of  a  very 
short  address,  and  I  have  taken  the  liberty  to  jot  down  the  few  things 
which  I  will  read  to  you,  regarding  this  question.  I  think,  in  my  humble 
opinion,  it  is  the  most  important  one  before  this  Convention. 

MR.  F.  M.  MULLENS  PAPER. 

Among  the  students  of  bird  life  past  and  present,  there  is  no  name 
of  greater  honor,  of  more  varied  attainments,  or  of  more  diligence  in  the 
search  after  truth  than  that  of  the  great  son  of  Louisiana  after  whom  the 
society  is  named  of  which  I  have  the  honor  to  be  president.  And  although 
Audubon  carried  his  investigations  to  distinguished  lengths  and  left  an 
imperishable  name  upon  the  page  of  history,  yet  nevertheless  within  re- 
cent years  there  has  occurred  a  development  of  that  particular  branch  of 
science  that  bids  fair  to  produce  the  most  astonishing  results  and  which 
it  is  no  longer  possible  to  ignore.  I  refer  to  the  study  of  the  economic 
importance  of  bird  life  to  man,  a  study  which  was  as  unknown  to  Audubon 
as  it  is  to  the  most  of  people  to-day. 

Within  the  last  five  years  there  has  sprung  up  a  body  of  observers 
who  have  noticed  and  noted  the  intimate  relationship  which  exists  be- 
tween birds  and  insects,  and  the  tremendous  economic  importance  of  the 


6O  PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOLL  WEEVIL  CONVENTION. 

services  of  the  birds  to  man— especially  to  the  farmers— has  become  so 
apparent  that  no  other  conclusion  can  be  formed  than  that  tney  are  in- 
estimable. 

These  observations  having  increased  to  such  extent  and  to  such  im- 
portance the  Department  of  Agriculture  at  Washington  took  up  the  work 
on  the  lines  of  impartial  scientific  investigation  and  is  publishing  at  fre- 
quent inteivals  pamphlets  showing  the  result  of  the  careful  study  of  their 
trained  observers. 

In  one  of  such  pamphlets  they  publish  the  story  of  the  investigation  of 
one  of  our  most  inconspicuous  birds,  the  tree  sparrow,  and  its  importance 
will  sanction  a  re-telling. 

The  observations  were  made  in  the  State  of  Iowa,  in  which  State  the 
tree  Sparrow  is  found  during  five  winter  months.  In  the  first  place, 
the  observers  made  a  very  careful  canvass  of  the  State  to  determine  the 
number  of  the  birds,  and  arrived  at  comparatively  accurate  results.  They 
then  killed  many  of  the  birds  and  carefully  analyzed  the  contents  of  their 
craws  and  intestines,  with  the  result  that  after  all  these  painstaking 
measures  were  completed,  the  observers  were  able  to  say  that  the  tree 
sparrows  in  the  State  of  Iowa  were  consuming  during  the  five  months 
they  were  resident  there,  the  enormous  amount  of  1,700,000  pounds  of 
iveed  seeds. 

You  may  not  attach  such  importance  to  this  statement  as  the  facts  war- 
rant, but  you  will  readily  see  the  point  1  am  trying  to  make  if  I  put  the 
statement  in  another  form.  Suppose  the  papers  published  the  news  that 
I  had  30,000  bushels  of  weed  seeds  and  that  I  intended  to  send  out  the 
seeds  in  wagons  to  be  sown  broadcast  all  over  the  State.  You  very  well 
know  that  such  a  plan  would  come  to  a  sudden  ending  and  that  my  pres- 
ence would  be  hastened  elsewhere. 

So  much  for  a  bird  not  usually  placed  in  the  class  of  the  farmer's  val- 
ued allies.  Let  us  now  take  one  of  our  more  highly  organized  birds,  the 
mocking  bird,  and  see  where  its  economic  value  lies.  It  is  a  very  well 
known  fact  that  the  mocking  bird  eats  moths,  especially  the  moths  of  the 
boll  worm,  and  it  is  within  the  bounds  of  ordinary  observation  to  say 
that  a  pair  of  mocking  birds  will  feed  their  young  with  75  of  these  moths 
per  day.  It  is  also  within  the  bounds  of  truthfulness  to  say  that  each 
one  of  these  moths  is  the  progenitor  of  one  hundred  descendants  the  first 
year.  We  can  therefore  say  that  by  simple  preventive  measures  one  pair 
of  mocking  birds  would  in  one  day  of  their  nesting  season  rid  the  world 
of  7500  boll  worms,  and  as  the  nesting  season  will  last  two  weeks  and 
upwards,  the  total  number  of  boll  worms  prevented  from  appearing  the 
following  season  may  be  placed  to  the  credit  of  this  one  pair  of  mock- 
ing birds  to  the  astonishing  number  of  one  hundred  thousand. 

There  was  recently  held  in  this  city  a  convention  of  nut  growers  and 
those  gentlemen  discussed  their  problems  in  much  the  same  manner  as 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOLL  WEEVIL  CONVENTION.  6l 

you  are  discussing  yours,  and  although  the  question  of  fighting  the  in- 
sect enemies  which  prey  upon  the  pecan  trees  was  thoroughly  considered, 
nevertheless  not  one  speaker  made  any  allusion  to  the  important  part 
which  birds  play  in  ridding  the  world  of  all  such  pests  and  of  their  con- 
sequent economic  value.  And  of  all  men  who  should  acknowledge  the 
debt  of  obligation  due  the  feathered  tribe  the  pecan  grower  is  most  con- 
spicuous. 

For  instance,  there  are  birds  whose  diet  is  almost  wholly  made  up  of 
the  disguesting  worms  which  live  on  pecan  trees  and  which  will,  unless 
checked,  absolutely  denude  those  trees  of  leaves,  bud  and  fruit.  The 
most  conspicuous  bird  in  this  class  is  the  yellow  billed  cuckoo  or  rain 
crow.  This  bird  eats  all  kinds  of  tree  worms  and  is  the  only  bird  that 
will  eat  the  unsightly  and  disgusting  hairy  caterpillars.  The  cuckoo  will 
gorge  himself  on  this  diet  until  his  crop  is  actually  lined  with  hairs  from 
off  the  backs  of  these  caterpillars. 

I  could  go  on  in  this  manner  for  the  next  hour  arid  dilate  upon  the 
economic  value  of  certain  birds  and  cite  case  after  case  of  authentic 
record  of  services  which  birds  render  in  their  ceaseless  and  incessant  war- 
fare against  the  hosts  of  insect  pests.  But  the  story  would  only  be  a  re- 
iteration of  those  already  told  and  would  tire  you  by  its  reiteration.  Suf- 
fice to  say  that  it  seems  as  though  against  every  form  of  insect  life 
there  was  some  special  form  of  bird  life  waging  a  warfare  of  destruction 
to  be  carried  on  to  a  successful  conclusion  but  for  the  ignorance,  the 
indifference  and  folly  of  mankind. 

One  most  conspicuous  example  in  this  respect  is  told  in  the  story  of 
the  chinch  bug. 

This  bug  is  distinguished  by  its  armor  plated  back  and  its  disgusting 
bed  bug  odor.  It  is  an  unsightly  looking  thing  and  its  destructive  abilities 
place  it  at  the  head  of  its  class.  The  Department  of  Agriculture  is  au- 
thority for  the  statement  that  it  destroys  annually  one  hundred  million 
dollars  of  crops.  Strange  to  say  this  enormous  loss  is  patiently  borne 
by  the  farmers  and  no  steps  are  taken  to  abate  it.  And  yet  it  is  entirely 
within  the  bounds  of  reason  to  say  that  this  insect  could  be  completely 
exterminated  and  the  loss  it  occasions  be  saved. 

The  price  to  be  paid  however  is  beyond  man's  courage,  he  simply  will 
not  do  it,  for  it  means  that  man  shall  deprive  himself  of  the  pleasure  of 
murdering  such  ground  living  insect  eating  birds  as  the  inoffensive  and 
most  valuable  feathered  ally,  the  luscious  morsel  named  quail. 

These  birds,  Bob  White  and  the  prairie  hens,  are  born  with  the  deter- 
mination to  rid  the  world  of  every  chinch  bug  on  it,  and  would  unques- 
tionably fulfill  their  mission  but  for  the  crass  stupidity  of  man  who  would 
rather  have  the  carcasses  of  these  birds  served  on  his  table  than  acknow- 
ledge the  service  rendered  by  decreeing  their  protection. 

But  I   feel   sure  the  time  will  soon  be  here  when  the  farmers  of  this 


62  PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOLL  WEEVIL  CONVENTION. 

country  aroused  to  the  tremendous  economic  importance  of  the  services 
of  these  and  other  birds  will  decree  the  present  wasteful  and  brutal  prac- 
tices to  cease. 
At  the  close  of  Mr.  Muller's  address  the  following  letter  was  read: 

MR.  WM.  BUTCHER'S  LETTER. 

NEW  YORK,  Nov.  28,  1903. 
MR.  ABE  BRITTIN, 

President  Cotton  Exchange,  New  Orleans,  La. 

Dear  Sir:  I  note  by  the  public  press  that  the  Boll  Weevil  Convention 
will  commence  its  session  in  New  Orleans  on  the  30th  inst. 

As  the  chairman  of  the  committee  for  the  protection  of  North  American 
birds,  I  take  great  interest  in  the  deliberations  of  conventions  like  the 
present  one,  inasmuch  as  I  sincerely  believe  that  some  of  the  troubles  that 
your  convention  will  discuss  arise  from  the  fact  that  the  citizens  of  the 
states  that  are  damaged  by  the  boll  weevil  have  never  yet  realized  the 
value  of  the  wild  bird  life  to  the  country. 

Until  recently  the  public  have  considered  that  birds  were  placed  upon 
the  earth  for  no  other  purpose  than  to  be  killed  for  sport  or  food. 

Within  the  last  decade  scientific  research  has  shown  that  all  of  the 
wild  birds  of  the  country  have  an  important  economic  bearing  upon  agri- 
culture; the  two  are  closely  allied,  and  without  the  birds  as  aids  to  the 
farmer,  agriculture  would  be  practically  a  failure.  Every  farmer  should, 
therefore,  have  an  intimate  knowledge  of  the  value  of  each  species  of 
birds. 

It  is  as  important  for  a  planter  to  know  what  the  various  classes  of 
birds  do  for  him  as  it  is  for  him  to  know  what  is  the  best  seed  or  the 
best  ground,  or  the  best  fertilizers  for  him  to  use.  All  these  subjects  are 
extremely  important  component  parts  of  a  farmer's  success  and  there  is 
none  of -them  of  more  vital  importance  than  a  realization  that  the  wild 
birds  are  continually  working  for  the  agriculturists. 

Unfortunately  I  am  so  situated  that  I  cannot  be  present  at  your  con- 
vention in  order  to  tell  you  *  something  of  the  great  value  of  birds  as 
checks  to  the  increase  of  insect  life,  but  I  can  by  letter,  and  do  most 
earnestly  urge  upon  your  convention  that  you  agitate  the  subject  of  a 
satisfactory  and  comprehensive  law  in  Louisiana  to  protect  all  of  her  valu- 
able non-game  birds. 

At  the  present  time  the  law  for  the  protection  of  the  economic  birds, 
i.  e.,  those  that  cannot  in  any  sense  be  considered  as  game  birds,  are 
practically  valueless,  as  they  only  protct  some  6  or  7  species  and  leave  un- 
protected in  the  neighborhood  of  narly  300  species. 

At  the  next  session  of  your  legislature  a  drastic  law  should  be  passed 
prohibiting  the  killing  of  any  of  the  beneficial  birds  of  Louisiana.  In 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOLL  WEEVIL  CONVENTION.  63 

every  part  of  the  country  agriculturists  are  awakening  to  the  economic 
value  of  the  non-game  birds.  During  the  legislative  session  of  1903, 
in  the  southern  tier  of  states,  model  laws  were  passed  in  Virginia,  North 
Carolina,  Tennessee,  Georgia  and  Texas;  Florida  and  Kentucky  having 
previously  legislated  in  like  manner. 

Your  convention,  in  its  own  interests,  and  in  the  interests  of  the  great 
industry  that  you  represent,  should  pass  a  strong  resolution  demanding 
from  the  incoming  legislature  that  the  wild  birds  of  the  State  of  Louis- 
iana, that  are  so  important  to  its  agricultural  interests,  shall  not  be  killed 
for  food  or  millinery  ornaments;  nor  shall  they  be  trapped  or  caged,  or 
exported  from  the  state,  dead  or  alive. 

The  wild  birds  of  the  State  of  Louisiana  are  of  far  more  value  to  the 
commonwealth,  while  they  are  alive  and  destroying  all  manner  of  noxious 
insect  pests  and  vermin  as  nature  intended  them  to  do,  than  they  are  in 
any  other  way. 

Air.  President  and  members  of  the  convention,  serve  the  interests  of  the 
cotton  growers  by  demanding  of  the  legislature  that  the  wild  birds  be 
protected. 

I  am,  with  great  respect,  and  sympathy  with  you  in  your  insect  troubles, 

Very  truly  yours, 

WM.  BUTCHER, 
Chairman   National   Committee  Audubon  Societies. 

The  President. — I,  for  one,  after  this  address,  law  or  no  law,  will  see 
that  there  is  no  killing  of  any  bird  of  any  description  on  my  farm. 

Mr.  Glassell,  of  Cadclo. — I  move  that  a  resolution  be  passed  requesting 
the  next  legislature  to  prohibit  the  killing  or  trapping  of  any  bird. 

The  President. — If  I  am  not  mistaken,  the  Committee  on  Resolutions 
will  have  a  resolution  covering  that. 

Professor  Stubbs. — Mr.  Chairman,  I  am  sorry  to  inform  you  that  Judge 
Lawrason  is  not  here.  I  am  sorry  that  we  cannot  get  this  gentleman 
this  morning  to  discuss  the  relation  which  the  banker  bears  to  the  farmer, 
and  the  injury  to  be  suffered  by  him  from  the  boll  weevil.  But  we  need 
not  go  without  a  speech  on  that  subject.  I  think  we  have  with  us  a 
magnificent  representative  of  that  class  here  to-day,  a  prominent  banker, 
and  a  man  who  can  speak  well,  as  I  know,  Mr.  George  W.  Bolton,  of 
Alexandria. 

Mr.  Bolton  was  invited  by  the  President  to  come  forward,  and  he 
did  so. 

Mr.  Bolton. — Mr.  Chairman,  if  I  were  to  come  up  on  the  platform,  you 
would  expect  me  to  make  a  speech.  Mr.  Chairman  and  gentlemen  of  the 
Convention,  it  is  always  difficult  for  anyone  to  fill  the  place  of  another, 
and  especially  one  who  is  so  eminently  qualified  to  fill  the  position  that 
has  been  selected  for  him  as  Judge  Lawrason,  of  West  Feliciana.  It  goes 


64  PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOLL  WEEVIL  CONVENTION. 

without  saying,  and  it  is  apparent  to  all,  that  the  banking  interests  of 
our  State  are  so  intimately  connected  with  the  cotton  interests  and  the 
other  agricultural  interests,  but  particularly  the  cotton  interests,  where 
cotton  is  the  chief  product,  that  it  is  hardly  necessary,  it  occurs  to  mer 
to  say  anything  upon  that  subject.  Banking  institutions  are  established, 
as  we  all  know,  for  the  purposes  of  loan,  deposit  and  for  furnishing  a 
medium  of  exchange.  These  institutions  are  not  individual  institutions. 
These  institutions  are  composed  of  the  contributions,  as  it  were,  of  the 
idle  money  in  the  hands  of  the  people  who  are  partners  in  these  insti- 
tutions, in  the  name  of  stockholders.  But  having  been  established,  it  is 
absolutely  necessary  that  they  should  receive,  from  the  communities  where 
they  are  established,  loans  on  deposit,  to  enable  them  to  furnish  the  loans 
to  carry  on  the  various  interests  of  that  community.  Now,  whatever 
tends  to  reduce  that  loan  by  deposit  tends  to  cripple  them  in  affording 
the  assistance  that  is  necessary.  As  money  may  be  said  to  be  the  life- 
blood  of  commerce,  so  indeed  credit  may  be  said  to  be  more  so.  Think 
for  a  moment  of  the  vast  amount  of  credit  that  is  extended  to  other  in- 
terests in  our  State ;  think  for  a  moment  of  the  number  of  people  who  re- 
ceive this  credit.  This  credit  comes  indirectly,  when  it  does  not  come 
directly  from  the  banking  interests  and  from  the  banks.  Though  in  many 
instances  it  may  come  from  some  other  party,  the  banks  themselves  fur- 
nish this,  and  anything  that  tends  to  cripple  them,  tends  to  cripple  the 
efficiency  and  the  ability  of  the  banking  interests  to  discharge  their  func- 
tion. Not  only  in  our  own  State,  Mr.  Chairman,  but  as  something  was 
said  yesterday,  or  rather  much  was  said  yesterday,  about  the  national 
aspect  of  this  great  question,  you  will  readily  see  that  the  banks  of  the 
country  at  large  are  bound  to  be  affecetd  by  this  question.  When  you 
go  into  the  monetary  districts  of  New  England,  to  consider  the  banking 
interests  there,  think  of  the  thousands  and  the  multiplied  thousands  of 
operatives  in  those  manufacturing  institutions  all  over  the  New  England 
States,  and  then  go  and  look  at  the  enormous  deposit  in  the  savings 
banks,  which  come  largely  from  the  operatives  and  employes  of  those 
institutions.  .  You  will  see,  in  a  moment,  the  enormous  detriment  and 
the  great  injury  it  does  to  the  savings  banks  interest  in  the  New  England 
States.  Furthermore,  as  was  well  alluded  to  yesterday,  when  you  con- 
sider the  vast  export  value  of  this  crop,  exceeding  that  of  several  other 
crops  combined,  maintaining  and  preserving  that  balance  of  trade  which 
is  absolutely  necessary  to  secure  stable  financial  conditions,  I  say  the  im- 
portance of  this  great  industry,  threatened,  as  it  is,  with  absolute  de- 
struction, unless  some  remedial  measures  are  provided,  cannot  be  over- 
estimated. 

I  said,  Mr.  Chairman  and  fellow  citizens,  that  I  was  not  going  to  make  a 
speech.  I  did  not  come  here  prepared  for  anything  of  the  kind.  I  did 
not  come  here  expecting  to  have  anything  to  say.  I  came  to  listen,  feel- 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOLL  WEEVIL  CONVENTION.  65 

ing  as  I  do,  and  I  am  satisfied  I  voice  the  sentiment  of  the  entire  bank- 
ing interests  of  the  State,  that  we  feel  the  greatest  interest  in  the  success 
of  any  effort  that  may  result  from  your  action  here,  towards  the  de- 
struction of  this  imepnding  danger  to  the  cotton  interests  not  only  of 
Louisiana,  but  the  entire  South.  As  I  said,  I  am  quite  sure  that  I  voice 
the  sentiment  of  the  entire  banking  interests  of  Louisiana,  when  I  say 
that  I  am  in  hearty  sympathy  with  any  efforts  that  you  may  put  forth; 
and  when  this  question  is  properly  understood,  if  it  is  not  now,  not  only 
the  banking  interests  of  this  State,  but  the  banking  interests  of  the  country 
at  large,  and  particularly  of  the  City  of  New  York,  will  be  quite  as  in- 
terested in  this  great  question  as  we  are  at  home  to-day. 

The  President. — I  have  in  my  hand  a  request  to  submit  before  this 
Convention,  from  our  State  Commissioner  of  Agriculture,  Major  J.  G.  Lee. 

The  request  was  read  by  the  Secretary,  as  follows,  to-wit: 
"HoN.  CHARLES  SCHULER,  President. 

"Dear  Sir:  The  State  Board  of  Agriculture  and  Immigration,  through 
its  Commissioner,  requests  the  privilege  of  publishing,  in  pamphlet  form, 
and  distributing  to  farmers  and  planters  of  the  State  the  proceedings  of 
the  convention.  "Respectfully, 

"J.  G.  LEE,  Commissioner.'' 

Professor  Stubbs. — I  move  that  the  request  be  granted.  The  motion  was 
seconded  and  carried. 

Professor  Stubbs. — I  believe  we  have  had  no  address  by  farmers  in- 
terested in  the  boll  weevil,  have  we?  (Being  answered  in  the  negative, 
Professor  Stubbs  continued.)  Well,  it  certainly  does  not  reflect  properly 
upon  our  planters  to  say  that  there  is  no  one  present  on  this  occasion  to 
respond  to  that  question.  When  I  look  into  this  audience,  and  see  the 
vast  array  of  talent  that  can  speak  to  that  question,  I  think  it  is  a  slander 
upon  them.  Our  friends,  Mr.  Maxwell,  of  Madison,  and  others,  can  en- 
lighten us  on  the  question,  and  I  call  upon  Mr.  Maxwell  first  to  respond 
to  that  question. 

The  President  invited  Mr.  Maxwell  to  the  platform. 

Mr.  Maxwell. — Mr.  Chairman  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Convention:  I 
have  listened  to  our  scientific  men,  and  everybody  that  has  spoken  upon 
this  subject,  with  a  great  deal  of  interest.  I  have  learned  a  great  many 
things  about  the  boll  weevil. 

One  of  our  scientific  men  here  yesterday  stated  that  there  couid  be 
cotton  raised  in  the  midst  of  the  boll  weevil  section.  It  had  been  done. 
In  his  opinion,  with  proper  methods  and  proper  cultivation,  with  early 
maturing  varieties,  the  cotton  could  be  produced,  with  profit,  in  the  midst 
of  the  boll  weevil  section.  However,  he  is  a  young  man,  and  has  not  had 
as  much  experience  as  some  of  us  who  have  been  in  the  business  for  the 
last  forty  years.  But  especially  he  should  remember  what  kind  of 'labor 


66  PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOLL  WEEVIL  CONVENTION. 

we  have  in  the  Mississippi  river  valley,  that  is,  the  negro.  It  is  a  hard 
proposition  for  us  people  in  the  Mississippi  river  valley  to  undertake  this 
scientific  method  that  he  spoke  of  here  yesterday,  which  our  friend,  Pro- 
fessor Knapp,  stated  he  had  introduced  into  Texas.  We  are  bound  to 
stop  and  consider  a  little  before  we  undertake  it.  Every  man  who  has 
been  a  planter  in  the  Mississippi  river  valley  for  the  last  thirty  years 
knows  how  difficult,  and  how  much  trouble  we  have,  with  the  labor  that 
we  have,  to  introduce  these  scientific  measures,  and  to  act  promptly  and 
quickly  as  we  would  have  to  do  in  that  case. 

Mr.  Williams,  my  friend  the  cotton  seed  man,  gave  me  some  hope  this 
morning,  in  his  letter  from  Mexico.  I  am  glad  that  there  is  at  least  a 
remedy  to  combat  the  boll  weevil  in  the  bottom  land,  that  we  can  readily 
adopt.  We  can  drown  him  out.  We  have  plenty  of  water  in  the  Mis- 
sissippi river  at  our  disposal. 

But  I  think  we  should  take  every  means  and  every  precaution  in  fight- 
ing from  the  start  to  keep  him  out  just  as  long  as  we  possibly  can;  and 
when  he  does  come,  everybody  go  to  fight  him.  Let  us  fight  him  in 
every  way,  poison  him,  drown  him,  but  kill  him  we  must,  and  kill  him  we 
will. 

Gentlemen,  I  do  not  know  of  anything  else  that  I  can  say  to  you  here 
on  this  subject.  It  is  a  new  subject  to  me.  I  have  not  been  studying  it 
very  long.  I  have  been  watching  the  papers  and  reading  upon  it  as  much 
as  I  could.  It  is  a  subject  that  every  man  in  Louisiana,  whether  he  is 
a  planter  or  not,  is  interested  in. 

There  is  no  doubt  but  what  the  Governor  will  respond  and  call  the 
Legislature  at  once.  Then,  I  think  it  would  probably  be  a  good  idea 
for  some  of  our  planters  that  are  interested  in  this  thing  to  go  to  Baton 
Rouge  and  stimulate  the  representatives  by  their  presence,  and  to  see 
that  every  law  necessary  is  enacted  that  will  aid  us  in  every  possible  way 
to  combat  this  pest  I  just  make  that  as  a  suggestion. 

Now,  if  there  is  anyone  that  would  like  to  ask  any  questions,  I  would  be 
pleased  to  answer  them. 

Thanking  you  for  your  attention. 

Being  called  upon,  and  invited  to  speak,  Mr.  W.  L.  Foster  ascended  the 
platform  and  spoke  as  follows: 

MR.  W.  L.  FOSTER'S  SPEECH. 

Mr.  Chairman  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Convention:  This  is  un- 
expected, I  assure  you.  It  sort  o'  takes  my  breath  away.  I  came 
here,  as  most  everyone  else  did,  to  see  and  to  listen.  I  have  been  very 
much  edified,  and  very  greatly  instructed,  and  I  feel  that  the  two  days 
which  shall  have  been  spent  here  at  this  Convention,  shall  have  been 
worth  more  to  the  cotton  planters  of  this  State  than  any  other  two  days 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOLL  WEEVIL  CONVENTION.  67 

that  have  been  so  spent  within  my  recollection  in  a  public  gathering  of 
our  craft  in  this  State. 

There  can  be  no  doubt,  after  having  listened  to  the  papers  and  the  talks 
of  these  men  of  scientific  research  as  to  the  great  danger  that  confronts 
us.  The  danger  is  great.  The  danger  is  imminent.  It  behooves  us,  as 
has  been  said,  to  watch  along  every  line,  and  leave  no  stone  unturned,  as 
it  were,  under  which  one  of  these  weevils  might  hide. 

I  think  that  this  Convention  has  so  far  pursued  a  very  wise  course, 
and  that  its  labors  must  result  in  great  benefit  to  the  cotton  producers, 
not  only  of  this  State,  but  of  all  that  country  lying  east  of  the  Texas 
line,  where  the  pest  now  is  so  bad.  I  realize,  gentlemen,  when  such  ques- 
tions as  these  confront  us,  there  are  two  or  three  mistakes  which  are  to 
be  guarded  against.  One  is  that  of  becoming  panic-stricken,  losing  confi- 
dence in  ourselves,  and  in  this  combat  that  we  are  engaged  in.  On  the 
other  hand,  we  must  not  be  over  confident.  We  must  not  feel  that  this 
great  danger  can  be  minimized,  that  by  meeting  in  convention  and  spout- 
ing a  lot  of  talk  we  can  check  the  ravages  of  the  boll  weevil ;  but  we  must 
feel,  gentlemen,  that  when  we  go  away  from  here,  every  man  must  feel 
that  upon  his  shoulders,  to  some  extent,  rests  the  cotton  industry  of  this 
State,  and  he  must  be  willing,  if  necessary,  to  sacrifice  himself  to  the 
protection  of  the  great  mass  of  cotton  producers. 

Now  I  must  say  as  to  the  future  that  I  have  great  doubt,  but  at  the 
same  time,  I  have  infinite  hope.  I  believe  that  with  the  Southern  man 
everything  is  possible.  I  believe  that  with  the  cotton  planter  of  the 
South  there  is  no  great  danger  that  he  cannot  cope  with.  In  his  wisdom, 
guided  by  the  experts  that  may  be  put  at  his  disposal  by  the  State  and 
the  National  Government,  there  is  no  danger  of  this  sort  that  he  cannot 
successfully  meet  and  overcome..  Go  back  through  the  history  of  the 
South  for  the  past  forty  years  and  who  can  doubt  this  assertion.  Go 
back  to  the  times  when  most  of  us  were  children,  when  our  fathers  took 
up  their  guns  and  their  swords  to  fight  for  a  principle.  They  were  over- 
run by  superior  numbers,  but  though  overrun  and  overborne  their  cour- 
age was  still  as  great  as  ever.  They  went  to  their  desolate  homes  and 
their  ruined  farms,  threw  away  their  guns,  and  took  up  their  plows,  and 
undertook  to  reclaim  their  devastated  country.  Later  on,  when  the  worst 
trouble  came,  when  the  people  of  the  South  were  overridden  by  hordes 
of  scalawags,  and  when  he  had  the  heel  of  the  Federal  Government  upon 
his  neck,  did  he  sulk,  did  the  Southern  man  and  the  cotton  planter  cease 
in  his  work?  He  took  up  again  the  proper  line  of  action,  and  freed  him- 
self and  his  State.  Come  on  further  down,  when  going  over  the  great 
alluvial  lands  of  those  sections,  to  put  in  the  crop  of  cotton  and  corn,  he 
saw  the  rivers  rise  in  their  torrents,  and  year  by  year  his  crops  were  devas- 
tated, did  he  quit?  No,  but  calling  to  his  advice  and  to  his  side  the  best  and 
most  skillful  engineers  of  modern  days,  he  built  levees  along  the  great 


68  PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOLL  WEEVIL  CONVENTION. 

Mississippi  river  ,and  along  the  Ouachita  and  the  Red  rivers,  that  saved 
not  only  the  lands  he  had  already  in  cotton  and  other  products,  but  re- 
claimed millions  of  acres  of  other  lands,  and  laid  a  monument  to  the 
thrift  and  the  energy  and  the  gej,iU&  of  the  Southern  man.  Come  on 
further  down  still,  when,  as  has  been  said  by  our  friend  Capt.  Marston 
this  morning,  the  catepillar  came  into  his  field  as  a  new  enemy;  did  he 
give  up,  did  he  quit?  When  he  saw  his  fields  of  most  promising  cotton 
devasted  and  ruined,  sometimes  within  a  night,  did  he  quit?  No,  but 
again  summoning  to  his  assistance,  scientists  and  practical  men,  men  of 
sense  and  experience,  he  evolved  a  remedy  that  absolutely  put  the  caterpil- 
lar out  of  business.  Now  the  caterpillar  has  no  more  dread  in  the 
farmer's  mind,  than  if  he  had  never  seen  it.  When  the  low  price  of  cotton 
struck  this  country,  when  for  years  we  sold  it  at  the  exact  cost  of  produc- 
tion, and  at  times  at  a  loss  to  the  Southern  planter  did  the  Southern 
farmer  lose  hope  and  give  up?  He  simply  changed  his  tactics.  He  simply 
called  to  his  assistance  again  those  scientists  and  those  men  that  have 
delved  into  theories  and  science,  and  he  made  more  cotton  with  less  work ; 
and  evolved  from  what  seemed  to  be  a  calamity,  a  blessing  in  disguise, 
and  rose  superior  to  the  situation  again. 

Now  gentlemen  this  is  a  forty  years  record  of  the  cotton  planter;  and 
although  this  pest  now  menaces  us,  and  threatens  us  almost  with  utter 
annihailation,  and  destruction,  we  cannot  but  believe  that  it  will  be  but  a 
very  short  time  before  some  one  will  evolve  some  practical  and  cheap 
remedy  that  will  once  more  put  us  where  we  have  been  at  the  top  of  the 
ladder. 

Professor  Stubbs :  I  believe  we  are  about  to  close  now.  There  is  one 
thing  I  want  to  bring  before  this  audience  before  we  adjourn.  I  be- 
lieve it  is  universally  conceded  that  this  Convention  is  a  success.  We 
have  gathered  together  here  the  most  representative  cotton  planters  of  tbe 
State,  and  in  numbers  sufficient  to  give  weight  and  expression  to  the  wishes 
of  the  planters  and  farmers  of  this  State.  We  have  met  here  to  attend  what 
has  been  called  the  Boll  Weevil  Convention.  Now  the  question  arises, 
and  I  want  to  propound  it  to  this  audience  to-day:  Shall  this  Conven- 
tion be  perpetuated? 

In  Texas,  a  large  amount  of  good  has  already  been  accomplished  by  an 
organization  known  as  a  Boll  Weevil  Convention.  My  friend,  Professor 
Connell,  is  Secretary  of  that  Convention,  and  I  might  say,  has  been  the 
life  of  it  since  its  organization.  It  has  been  through  that  organization 
that  Secretary  Wilson  has  been  importuned,  and  those  farms  established 
and  experiments  carried  on  in  Texas.  I  think  this  Convention  should  con- 
sider the  question,  whether  we  shall  adjourn  without  permanent  organi- 
zation, or  whether  we  shall  have  a  permanent  organization,  that  shall 
continue  with  the  work  that  we  have  begun  in  this  Convention.  Profes- 
sor Connell  is  here,  and  before  we  adjourn  this  Convention,  I  would  like 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOLL  WEEVIL  CONVENTION.  69 

him  to  address  us  on  this  subject;  and  after  his  address  we  will  consider 
that  question. 

The  President  called  Professor  Connell  to  the  platform,  who  delivered 
himself  as  follows,  to-wit: 

PROFESSOR  CONNELL. 

Mr.  Chairman  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Convention.  The  subject 
of  permanent  organization  was  foreign  to  the  conception  of 
Texas  fanners  a  year  ago.  The  idea  of  calling  a  convention  of  the  busi- 
ness interests,  and  the  cotton  growing  interests  of  the  great  State  of  Texas, 
for  the  temporary  consideration  of  the  boll  weevil,  was  ridiculed  by  some 
of  the  people  of  our  State ;  because,  as  they  said,  a  convention  of  that 
kind  would  give  a  black  name  to  Texas;  that  the  business  interests  of  the 
United  States  would  gather  a  wrong  impression  concerning  the  financial 
standing  and  the  prosperity  of  our  farmers  in  Texas;  that  the  business 
interests  of  these  United  States  would  forget  that  Texas  was  actually  pro- 
ducing from  two  million. six  hundred  thousand,  to  three  million  bales  of 
cotton  a  year ;  and  that  the  Convention  idea  was  a  calamity  movement. 
There  were  others,  however,  who  maintained  that  the  business  interests 
of  the  country  were  better  informed  concerning  the  boll  weevil  situation  in 
Texas,  that  the  business  interests  of  Texas  were  informed  concerning 
those  conditions ;  that  the  business  interests  of  Texas  understood  the  boll 
weevil  situation  in  Texas  better  than  the  farmers  of  Texas  understood 
that  situation ;  that  every  business  establishment  doing  business  in  the 
State  of  Texas,  has  its  agents  and  promoters  out  in  all  portions  of  the 
State,  who  gave  daily  reports  upon  the  situation ;  and  therefore,  that  it 
could  do  no  harm  to  come  together  and  devise  ways  and  means  for  com- 
batting this  insidious  insect.  I  speak  of  this,  Mr.  Chairman,  to  show  you 
that  a  temporary  convention  was  not  easily  called  in  Texas. 

In  the  year  1895,  I  nad  the  pleasure  of  accompanying  the  Assistant 
Secretary  of  Agriculture,  Hon.  Charles  Dabney,  on  a  visit  to  the  Texas 
Legislature.  When  he  laid  before  that  body,  a  plain  proposition  for  the 
destruction  of  the  boll  weevil,  in  Texas,  when  he  first  invaded  the  lower 
cotton  producting  counties,  the  assurance  felt  by  the  members  of  the 
Texas  Legislature  was  so  strong,  in  the  ability,  in  the  ingenuity  of  Texas 
farmers  and  Texas  planters,  and  Texas  business  men,  to  throttle  that 
insect,  that  they  laughed  the  suggestion  of  Dr.  Dabney  to  scorn,  whilst 
treating  him  respectfully.  The  Committee  that  listened  to  his  recommen- 
dations merely  turned  them  aside  and  made  no  report  to  either  branch 
of  the  Legislature. 

When  the  Dallas  business  men  called  the  first  Boll  Weevil  Convention, 
on  December  i8th,  1902,  scarcely  a  year  ago,  there  were  some  persons  who 
decried  the  movement,  as  I  have  indicated.  I  mention  these  facts,  gentle- 


7O  PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOLL  WEEVIL  CONVENTION. 

men,  to  indicate  to  you  that  it  was  considered  an  error  to  call  a  Boll 
Weevil  Convention  only  a  short  time  ago.  But  we  are  beginning  to  see 
clearly  the  enormous  proposition  that  confronts  us  in  the  boll  weevil  dis- 
trict, and  we  are  beginning  to  take  it  up  in  a  business  like  way.  First,  we 
had  a  Boll  Weevil  Convention,  and  that,  at  the  last  meeting,  grew  into  the 
Texas  Cotton  Convention,  a  convention  that  undertakes  to  consider  not 
only  the  boll  weevil,  but  also  the  boll  worm,  root-rot,  or  as  so  many 
people,  call  it,  alkali  in  cotton,  and  all  the  other  diseases  which  the  cotton 
plant  is  heir  to,  and  the  different  varieties  of  cotton  in  the  boll  weevil  dis- 
trict and  outside  of  it,  a  permanent  cotton  convention  to  safeguard  the 
cotton  interests  of  Texas.  Our  ideas  have  expanded  upon  this  subject, 
Mr.  President.  We  are  growing  wiser,  whether  we  are  growing  in  grace 
or  not.  We  are  going  to  see  the  problem,  itself,  as  it  divides  itself  under 
several  practical  hands.  The  same  lines  of  demarcation  or  expression  will 
not  present  themselves  to  the  people  of  Louisiana,  in  all  probability,  but 
some  of  the  lines  of  demarcation  will  be  found  here,  whenever  the  pest 
makes  its  inroads  upon  Louisiana. 

What  is  the  situation  in  Texas,  from  a  farmer's  standpoint.  Some  ex 
cellent  suggestions  have  been  offered  with  reference  to  the  farmer's  inter- 
est in  the  boll  weevil.  How  does  it  affect  the  Texas  farmers?  He  may 
be  divided  into  several  classes.  We  have  the  large  farmer,  the  landlord 
of.  extensive  interests,  as  you  have.  In  addition  to  that,  we  have  the 
small  cotton  farmer,  such  as  you  have  in  the  Northern  portion  of  this 
State.  We  have  a  few  independent  negro  cotton  farmers,  not  tenants. 
We  have  a  large  foreign  poulation  in  our  State,  who  are  independent  cot- 
ton farmers,  including  Germans,  Bohemians,  Italians  and  Swedes.  What 
is  the  effect  of  the  boll  weevil  upon  these  several  classes  of  people? 

I  will  call  your  attention  to  these  facts,  hoping  that  that  they  may  offer 
some  encouragement  to  you.  The  people  who  combat  the  boll  weevil 
most  successfully,  are  the  independent  cotton  growers,  people  who  apply 
their  minds  to  the  situation,  who  thoroughly  understand  what  the  scien- 
tific expert  has  said,  and,  reasoning  from  his  statements  to  their  own 
local  conditions,  make  a  connection  between  the  two,  and  raise  their  cot- 
ton in  spite  of  the  boll  weevil. 

Mr.  Chairman,  the  boll  weevil  has  caused  more  serious  study  of  the  cot- 
ton production  in  Texas,  within  the  last  two  years,  than  had  been  given 
to  the  subject  within  the  twenty-five  years  preceding  that  time.  The  study 
of  how  the  cotton  crop  grows,  how  long  it  takes  a  form  to  turn  into  a 
grown  boll,  the  size  of  the  different  bolls,  produced  by  different  varieties 
of  cotton,  whether  or  not  the  most  desirable  cottons  are  the  long  limbed 
cottons,  or  the  cluster  cottons,  just  how  long  it  takes  from  the  time  the 
cotton  plant  comes  out  and  shows  above  the  ground,  before  it  attempts 
to  put  out  its  squares ;  whether  or  not  a  fertilizer  can  be  used  with  profit 
upon  our  alluvial  soil,  and  if  so,  what  kind  of  fertilizer?  This  is  how  the 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOLL  WEEVIL  CONVENTION.  Jl 

problem  has  been  studied  in  Texas,  as  it  never  was  before.  Not  only  that 
problem,  but  the  whole  question  of  animal  life  upon  the  farm,  depending 
on  the  production  of  that  farm,  has  been  studied,  as  never  before.  And 
reasoning  from  this,  we  may  look  forward,  Mr.  Chairman,  when  we  can 
say  that  the  boll  weevil  has  caused  our  farmers  to  understand  the  produc- 
tion of  cotton  and  other  growths,  as  never  before. 

But,  my  friends,  do  not  forget  that  it  is  only  by  intelligent  and  persist- 
ent efforts  that  these  results  are  to  be  accomplished.  I  have  the  honor  to 
be  connected  with  an  agricultural  paper  in  our  State,  of  which  a  few 
copies  were  distributed  here,  by  courtesy  of  Dr.  Stubbs.  yesterday  morning. 
The  reading  people  of  our  State  have  come  to  us  and  said:  "I  own  a 
farm,  I  own  a  plantation  here,  I  have  three  managers  on  my  plantation. 
I  want  every  one  of  my  managers  to  study  this  situation,  or  this  subject." 
Send  that  paper  to  my  managers.  Nothing  of  that  kind  had  ever  occurred 
in  Texas  before ;  because  cotton  was  produced  without  any  particular  cart- 
er study.  The  result  has  been  that  our  people  are  taking  hold  of  the 
situation,  with  a  great  deal  of  hope  and  confidence.  One  of  the  most 
intelligent  farmers  of  our  State  planted  an  improved  variety  of  cotton, 
and  fertilized  it  with  acid  phosphate.  That  was  planted  upon  lands  which 
5  years  ago,  he  would  have  scorned  the  suggestion  of  using  fertilizers  on, 
as  a  requirement  to  gathering  a  crop,  but  which  had  become  unproduc- 
tive, before  the  weevil  invaded  that  district.  He  secured  a  bale  of  cotton 
to  the  acre,  before  the  23rd  day  of  October.  The  last  picking  of  that 
cotton  was  on  the  23rd  day  of  October.  But  every  other  boll  of  that  cot- 
ton, secured  after  that  time,  was  badly  stained,  by  reason  of  the  fact  that 
one  or  more  mothers  had  laid  in  each  boll,  and  the  worm  had  developed 
inside,  and  had  destroyed  from  one  or  two  of  the  four  or  five  locks  of  cot- 
ton. After  the  24th  day  of  October,  there  was  no  cotton  to  be  found  there, 
because  there  were  no  young  forms,  no  young  bolls ;  all  of  that  part  of  the 
cotton  had  been  taken  off  the  pest.  This  is  but  one  instance,  but  it  can 
be  multiplied  a  hundred  times,  in  the  experience  of  our  people. 

But  do  not  reason  from  that,  that  this  was  an  easy  thing  to  do.  As 
Secretary  of  the  Texas  Cotton  Convention,  I  come  in  contact  with  the 
average  cotton  grower,  as  well  as  with  the  intelligent  cotton  grower.  As 
I  intimated  yesterday,  to  reach  the  average  cotton  grower,  is  a  most  diffi- 
cult problem.  Go  to  the  small  cotton  farmer,  who  is  not  a  reader,  who 
will  not  hear  of  this  Convention  for  three  months  to  come,  because  his 
supply  of  information  is  so  restricted  that  it  comes  to  him  by  word  of 
mouth;  after  a  while  tell  him  that  there  has  been  a  cotton  convention, 
which  resolved  thus  and  so,  or  there  was  one  in  Texas  which  resolved 
thus  and  so;  and  it  is  a  far  cry,  my  friends.  Results  are  largely  wasted 
upon  that  man.  You  may  straighten  your  farmer's  institute  movement, 
and  I  hope  you  will  do  that,  but  that  man  is  difficult  to  reach  even  by  a 
farmer's  institute.  I  am  an  enthusiastic  advocate  of  that  work,  and  have 


72  PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOLL  WEEVIL  CONVENTION. 

devoted  time  and  labor  to  it,  but  the  average  cotton  producer  in  Texas, 
Louisiana  and  Mississippi,  as  I  know  him  in  those  three  States,  having  lived 
in  all  three  of  them,  must  be  reached  by  the  trade,  by  the  commercial  relar 
tions  with  which  he  is  so  intimately  connected.  Whenever  you  teach  your 
merchant  what  is  necessary  for  the  people,  and  the  protection  of  your  cot- 
ton interests,  and  let  the  merchants,  the  bankers,  the  cotton  oil  men,  im- 
press upon  the  people,  with  whom  they  come  in  contact,  that  thus  and  so 
is  necessary  to  be  done,  you  will  have  made  a  landing  upon  that  average 
cotton  producer,  the  man  who  does  not  read  to  any  great  extent.  We  bave, 
found  that  to  be  the  most  effective  method  of  awakening  interest  among 
that  class  to  which  I  refer.  And  there  are  thousands  of  farmers  in  the 
State  of  Texas  to-day,  who  are  buying  improved  cotton  seeds  for  planting 
purposes,  who  are  doing  it,  not  because  they  will  do  so  much,  as  because 
the  business  interests  with  which  they  are  concerned,  have  thought  it 
necessary  to  do  this.  So  that  you  see  the  intelligent  reading  cotton  pro- 
ducer is  able  to  take  advantage  of  this  thing  known  as  the  cultural  method 
without  much  difficulty  who  easily  understand  the  manifold  reasons  in 
favor  of  this  thing,  and  consider  it  a  valuable  and  necessary  thing  to  be 
done.  Within  a  year,  by  enlisting  the  support  and  help  of  your  business 
men  throughout  the  State,  through  this  organization,  you  will  be  able  to 
energize  the  man  who  follows  the  plow,  and  who  does  not  come  to  this 
Convention. 

In  order  that  all  of  this  work  might  go  on  in  our  State,  we  have 
strengthened  farmers'  institutes,  we  have  distributed  broadcast,  to  the 
stores,  and  the  oil  mills,  thousands  of  copies  of  the  circular  from  which 
I  read,  yesterday,  statistics  bearing  upon  the  boll  weevil  situation,  placing 
these  in  the  hands  of  the  store-keepers  in  order  that  they  might  get  re- 
liable facts  to  be  handed  to  their  farmer  customers.  In  addition  to  that, 
our  Convention  has  worked  hand  in  hand  with  the  United  States  Depart- 
ment of  Agriculture;  and  when  we  have  suggested  to  Secretary  Wilson 
that  we  thought  thus  and  so  was  a  valuable  line  of  action,  and  given  our 
reasons  for  the  suggestion;  and  when  we  have  consulted  with  Texas 
Cogressmen  as  to  the  necessity  for  extending  the  work  of  investigation,  in 
several  lines,  we  have  met  with  cordial  support  in  all  that  we  undertook. 

I  think,  Mr.  Chairman,  it  would  be  a  sad  mistake  to  let  the  work  of 
this  Convention  stop  with  the  discussion  and  the  resolutions  that  will  be 
adopted  here  during  this  Session. 

Permanent  organization  is  what  you  need.  We  all  place  a  low  estimate 
or  valuation  upon  any  temporary  effect.  Are  not  the  cotton  interests  of 
Louisiana  worthy  of  permanent  protection  ?  What  say  the  business  inter- 
ests of  the  State  of  Louisiana?  What  say  the  planters  of  the  State? 
Whilst  Texas  makes  the  bulk  of  the  crop  grown  in  this  Southwestern  por- 
tion of  the  country,  let  me  say  to  you  that  the  money  that  is  invested  in 
cotton  growing,  the  handling  of  cotton  products,  is  our  chief  interest,  not 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOLL  WEEVIL  CONVENTION.  73 

only  in  Texas,  but  in  Louisiana.  That  being  true,  why  should  not  those 
belated  interests,  which  have  been  scoffed  at  by  many,  and  the  cotton 
grower  held  up  to  ridicule,  why  should  we  not  go  right  on  the  middle  of 
the  road,  Mr.  Chairman,  and  make  cotton  among  ourselves  the  chief  con- 
sideration, as  it  is  the  chief  article  of  export  from  this  country.  You 
know,  and  I  know,  that  it  takes  years  of  education,  to  enable  the  cotton 
farmer  to  grow  diversified  crops,  of  which  we  have  read  so  much.  What 
we  need  to-day,  my  friends,  is  to  teach  the  cotton  grower  how  to  grow 
cotton  more  successfully,  and  then  he  will  be  prepared  and  happy  to  listen 
about  other  crops.  That  is  the  door  that  will  open  the  way  to  his  con- 
ridence,  and  1  have  the  utmost  hope  for  intelligent  production  along  the 
most  modern  lines.  In  our  section  of  our  State,  we  will  be  forced  to  pro- 
duce under  a  more  intelligent  system  or  not  produce  at  all. 

The  President  of  our  Convention  calls  the  weevil  the  devil's  own  bug. 
Any  body  can  tell  you  how  to  kill  the  weevil  but  the  fellows  who  run  up 
against  him.  The  only  thing  we  can  do  is  to  outrun  him.  We  take  the 
first  half  of  the  crop,  after  making  a  quicker  crop  than  we  have  been  doing, 
by  forcing  it;  but  it  costs  us  more  to  do  than  by  going  to  the  open  where 
we  are  ready  to  make  the  race.  "A  stitch  in  time  saves  nine."  "An  ounce 
of  hope  is  worth  a  ton  of  despair."  If  this  Convention,  instead  of 
resolving,  will  set  on  foot,  ways  and  means  of  lifting  cotton  culture,  within 
this  State,  within  the  next  few  years,  to  a  point  where  the  principles  of 
cotton  culture  will  be  better  understood  by  the  people,  who  produce  it,  you 
will  have  accomplished  a  great  deal  for  Louisiana.  If  a  permanent  organi- 
zation is  set  on  foot,  I  am  satisfied  that  this  end  will  be  accomplished,  and, 
at  the  same  time,  you  will  have  prepared  and  protected  yourself  against 
encroachments  by  the  pest. 

Mr.  Pope,  of  Rapides :  Mr.  Chairman,  on  behalf  of  the  delegates,  from 
the  Parish  of  Rapides,  I  move  that  this  Convention  do  now  resolve  itself 
into  a  permanent  organization;  to  be  known  as  the  Louisiana  Cotton 
Growers'  Association. 

This  motion  was  seconded. 

The  President:  It  is  moved  and  seconded  that  this  Convention  do  now 
resolve  itself  into  a  permanent  organization  to  be  known  as  the  Louisiana 
Cotton  Growers'  Association. 

Mr.  Pope:  I  should  think  that  name  should  be  sufficiently  broad  to 
cover  our  purposes.  We  do  not  want  to  admit  to  the  world  that  Louisi- 
ana has  the  boll  weevil;  and  there  is  no  use  in  this  Convention  resolving 
itself  into  a  boll  weevil  convention,  when  we  have  no  boll  weevil,  and  do 
not  propose  to  have  any. 

Mr.  Brazeale.  It  seems  to^e  that  we  had  better  adopt  the  idea  that 
this  is  a  permanent  boll  weevil  convention,  with  the  motto  that  we  are 
going  to  kill  it.  All  the  resolutions  of  this  body,  as  I  understand  them, 
will  go  to  the  point  of  announcing  to  the  world,  that  we  are  on  the  battle 


74  PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOLL  WEEVIL  CONVENTION. 

ground  here,  in  a  fight  to  be  made  against  the  boll  weevil.  The  chief 
part  of  the  name  of  this  convention  should  embrace  the  idea  that  we  are 
fighting  against  this  pest.  1  should  think,  that  this  would  strengthen  our 
hands,  in  the  fight,  to  name  it  the  Boll  Weevil  Convention,  with  the 
avowed  determination  of  doing  everything  in  our  power,  and  of  involving 
the  strong  arm  of  the  State  to  help  us  in  our  fight.  I  should  think  that 
the  name  Cotton  Growers'  Association  would  perhaps  limit  its  usefulness, 
by  making  it  appear  as  a  local  or  class  organization.  Let  us  announce,  as 
we  propose  to  do  in  our  resolution,  that  we  are  going  to  fight  this  thing 
to  death.  We  do  not  care  whether  he  is  here  or  not.  We  are  going  to 
fight  him.  We  are  going  to  kill  him. 

Mr.  Pope :    I  accept  the  suggestions  of  Congressman  Brazeale. 

Mr.  Pugh,  here  announced  that  he  was  ready  to  make  a  report  on  be- 
half of  the  Committee  on  Legislation. 

The  President  stated  that  a  report  was  always  in  order. 

Professor  Stubbs:  Mr.  Chairman,  before  receiving  the  report  of  the 
Committee  on  Legislation,  I  move  that  a  committee  on  permanent  organi- 
zation, composed  of  three,  be  named  by  the  chair,  and  instructed  to  bring 
in  their  report  after  the  other  reports  are  heard. 

The  Chair  announced  the  appointment  of  Messrs.  William  Polk,  J.  C. 
Hamilton,  and  John  Glassel,  Jr.,  as  the  Committee  on  Permanent  Organiza- 
tion. 

On  motion,  the  report  of  the  Committee  on  Legislation  was  then  read, 
by  Hon.  C.  Pugh,  Chairman,  as  follows,  to-wit: 

LEGISLATION  RECOMMENDED. 

"NEW  ORLEANS,  Dec.  i,  1903. 
"To  the  President  and  Members  of  the  Convention: 

"The  undersigned  committee,  appointed  by  your  body  to  suggest  and 
recommend  the  necessary  legislation  to  be  submitted  to  the  General  As- 
sembly of  this  State  to  enable  its  authorities  to  check  the  ravages  of  the 
Mexican  boll  weevil  to  the  cotton  industry  of  our  State,  beg  leave  to  sub- 
mit the  following  report : 

"The  Mexican  cotton  boll  weevil  which  has  caused  such  an  alarming 
devastation  to  the  cotton  crops  of  Texas  threatens  to  invade  the  cotton 
fields  of  Louisiana,  unless  drastic  and  immediate  measures  are  inaugurated 
to  prevent  this  catastrophe. 

"The  concealed  habits  of  the  weevil  are  such  as  to  arouse  great  sus- 
picion. Its  vitality  and  reproductive  capacity  are  astounding  and  the  great 
losses  which  Texas  has  experienced  should  awaken  the  best  energies  and 
bring  to  bear  the  best  thought  of  our  people  to  the  livest  sort  of  action 
and  the  most  advanced  determination  to  impede,  if  possible,  the  natural 
and  artificial  spread  of  this  insect  into  our  State. 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOLL  WEEVIL  CONVENTION.  75 

"Firmly  impressed  with  the  seriousness  of  the  situation  and  the  neces 
sity  for  immediate  and  energetic  action  on  the  part  of  our  State  authori- 
ties, your  committee  begs  leave  to  recommend  for  adoption  by  the  General 
Assembly  of  this  State,  prompt  legislation  along  the  following  lines : 

"i.  It  should  be  made  a  crime,  punishable  by  heavy  fine  and  imprison- 
ment, for  any  firm,  person  or  corporation  to  bring  into  this  State,  or  to 
have  in  possession,  except  a  duly  recognized  State  or  Federal  entomologist, 
for  any  purpose,  any  living  Mexican  boll  weevil  or,  any  cotton  bolls, 
squares  or  plants  of  seed  containing  the  adult,  pupa,  larva  or  egg  stagt 
of  the  Mexican  boll  weevil. 

"2.  An  act  prohibiting  the  shipment  into  the  State  of  any  cotton-seed, 
cotton  seed  hulls,  seed  cotton,  cotton  seed  sacks  or  bagging,  or  any  other 
farm  products  from  any  State,  or  consigned  from  points  within  any  State, 
where  the  boll  weevil  exists,  without  being  accompanied  by  a  certificate 
signed  by  duly  authorized  State  or  government  entomologist,  stating  that 
cotton-seed  or  other  farm  product  has  been  thoroughly  fumigated  in  such 
manner  as  to  kill  the  boll  weevil  in  any  of  its  stages, 

"3.  An  act  creating  a  crop  pest  commission,  to  be  composed  of  the 
Governor,  as  the  ex-officio  chairman  thereof,  Commissioner  of  Agriculture, 
director  of  the  State  Experiment  Station,  the  State  entomologist  and  two 
experienced  cotton  planters,  the  two  latter  to  be  appointed  by  the  Gover- 
nor, all  of  the  members  thereof  to  serve  without  compensation,  except 
actual  traveling  expenses,  and  conferring  on  said  commission  full  and 
plenary  power  to  deal  with  all  crop  and  fruit  pests  and  such  contagious 
and  infectious  diseases  as,  in  the  opinion  of  the  commission,  may  be  con- 
trolled or  eradicated;  and  with  power  to  make,  promulgate  and  enforce 
such  rules  and  regulations  as,  in  their  judgment,  are  necessary  to  control, 
eradicate  and  prevent  the  dissemination  of  all  injurious  pests,  as  far  as 
may  be  possible,  and  conferring  on  said  commission  the  power  and 
authority  to  make  all  rules  and  regulations  deemed  expedient  in  relation 
thereto,  and  said  rules  and  regulations  to  have  the  full  force  and  effect  of 
law,  so  far  as  they  conform  to  the  general  laws  of  the  State  and  of  the 
United  States. 

"4.  We  recommend  that  the  General  Assembly  of  the  State  appropriate 
the  sum  of  $25,000,  or  so  much  thereof  as  may  be  necessary,  to  enable  the 
crop  pest  commission,  herein  recommended,  to  deal  with  the  subject  of  the 
prevention  of  the  spread  of  the  boll  weevil  and  the  eradication  of  the 
same,  as  well  as  all  other  crop  pests. 

"Respectfully  submitted, 

"jNo.   C.   PUGH,  Chairman, 

"WALTER  GUION, 

"G.  W.  BOI.TON, 

"W.  C.  HUGHES, 

"H.  A.  MORGAN, 

"G.  W.  MONTGOMERY." 


2  PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOLL  WEEVIL  CONVENTION. 

Mr.  W.  B.  Marston,  of  Red  River  Parish,  moved  that  the  recommenda- 
tigais  he  accepted. 

Me.  W.  L.  Foster^  of  Gaddo  Parish,  moved  as  a  substitute,  that  the 
recommendations,  be  read  .section  by  section. 

Tkis  motion  was  seconded  by  Mr.  T.  P.  Sullivan,  of  Rapides  Parish. 

The  President  stated  the  motion. 

Thereupon  Mr.  Pugh,  Chairman  of  the  Committee,  obtained  the  floor 
aai  spoke  as  follows,  to-wit: 

Mr.  Pugh. — Mr.  Chairman  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Convention:  I  want 
to  say  to  you  that  we  are  confronted  now  with  a  serious  situation.  We 
h£ve  met  here  for  action.  Now,  I  want  to  say,  further,  that  we  have  had 
occasion  to  investigate  the  law  of  every  State  of  the  Union;  there  is  a 
party-  at  Washington,,  who  has  sent  me  the  statutes  of  every  State  of  the 
Uwion,  that  have  been  passed  upon  subjects  of  this  character.  Now,  if 
you  go  into  the  details  of  this  matter,  I  want  to  say  that  you  are  gojng  to 
hamper  the  action  of  the  State  Legislature,  and  you  are  going  to  hamper 
the  action  of  the  State  authorities  in  their  work  along  these  lines. 
.The  first  section  of  the  resolutions  here  provides  that  the  State  of 
Louisiana,  by  reason  of  the  inherent  powers  which  it  possesses  should  pro- 
vi^e  a  heavy  fine  and  penalty  as  against  the  firm,  person  or  corporation 
that  comes  within  the  borders  of  this  State  with  a  boll  weevil,  or  any  cot- 
ton square,  or  anything  else  appertaining  to  the  boll  weevil.  I  want  to  say 
to.  you,  gentlemen,  that  I  have  fears  along  these  lines.  I  want  to  say, 
without  fear  o,f  successful  contradiction,  that  if  the  boll  weevil  is  imported 
into  this  State,  and  I  think  we  have  it  now  on  the  border  line,  of  this 
State,  it  will  be  brought  here  by  designing  individuals.  I  do  not  like  to 
attribute  evil  motives  to  my  fellow  men,  but  there  is  a  strong  likelihood  that 
sqrne  men  who  have  planted  cotton  and  not  been  able  to  raise  more  than 
a  half  crop,  will  be  selfish  enough  to  be  caught  with  the  idea  that  they 
would  like  to  see  every  State  of  the  Union  impregnated  with  this  evil.  I 
tell  you  that  dozens  of  men  in  my  section  of  the  country  have  been  seen 
with  their  pockets  full  of  these  bugs.  The  danger  that  threatens  our  State 
to-day,  lies  more  in  the  fact  that  designing  individuals  may  distribute  these 
weevils  over  the  country,  for  the  purpose  of  speculating  in  the  cotton 
markets  of  the  world.  Now,  there  could  be  no  objection  to  this  clause, 
because  it  is  absolutely  necessary  as  an  effective  safeguard  against  this 
danger.  I  do  not  see  how  there  can  be  any  difference  of  opinion  among 
us,  when  it  is  proposed  to  make  it  a  criminal  offense  for  any  man  to  be 
found  in  this  State,  with  a  boll  weevil  in  his  possession. 

Now,  as:  to  the  next  clause,  I  want  to  say  that  it  is  an  absolute  neces- 
sity that  the  State  of  Louisiana  should  establish  what  I  would  call  a  strict 
quarantine.  I  would  say  to  the  gentlemen,  that  this  Commission  that  is 
provided  for  here,  is  to  be  composed  of  the  Chief  Executive  of  the  State, 
the  Commissioner  of  Agriculture,  the  Director  of  the  Experimental 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOLL  WEEVIL  CONVENTION.  77 

Station,  who  is  our  esteemed  friend  on  the  right,  and  of  the  State  Entomo- 
logist, and  of  two  intelligent  planters.  Now,  they  are  going  to  make  the 
rules  and  regulations,  so  as  to  prevent  the  importation  into  this  State  of 
any  product,  whether  it  be  cotton-seed  or  a  bale  of  cotton,  by  which  the 
weevil  may  be  introduced  in  our  midst.  The  City  in  which  I  live  ships  a 
large  amount  of  cotton  which  comes  from  the  State  of  Texas.  If  in  the 
opinion  of  that  Commission,  it  may  be  necessary  to  prohibit  this,  every  man 
in  that  City  should  sacrifice  his  interest,  so  as  to  exclude  not  only  cotton- 
seed, but  also  baled  cotton.  If  in  the  opinion  of  that  Commission  it  should 
be  necessary  to  exclude  the  cotton  of  Texas,  because  that  is  the  only  State 
in  the  Union,  that  is  affected  by  the  boll  weevil,  I  believe  that  it  is  neces- 
sary that  that  Commission  should  be  trusted  to  prohibit  the  introduction 
of  it:  not  only  that,  but  if  it  becomes  necessary,  the  State  of  Louisiana 
should  prohibit  the  importation  of  the  negro  or  the  Mexican  in  this  State; 
if  it  has  a  tendency  to  spread  this  pest.  Now,  I  believe  that  it  is  right  to 
leave  this  matter  largely  with  the  Commission,  so  that  it  may  be  suffi- 
ciently flexible. 

Now,  the  third  proposition  provides  for  the  appointment  of  a  Pest  Com- 
mission. This  is  not  a  new  thing.  I  tell  you  that  almost  every  State  in 
the  Union  has  that  act,  and  have  had  a  satisfactory  experience  in  repelling 
danger,  along  the  lines  that  we  are  threatened  with  reference  to  the  boll 
weevil.  Up  in  Maryland,  they  had  some  sort  of  contagion  there,  and  the 
question  arose  whether  they  should  make  a  neutral  zone  in  the  State  so  as' 
to  stop  the  spread  of  the  contagion.  They  drew  a  line  through  the  State, 
and  they  said,  beyond  that  you  cannot  plant  a  peach  tree,  because  if  you 
do,  it  will  have  a  tendency  to  spread  the  peach  pest,  in  other  sections  of 
the  State. 

I  tell  you  they  have  these  acts  in  almost  every  State  of  the  Union.  Why, 
over  here  in  our  sister  State  of  Georgia,  they  have  passed  an  act;  and  if 
any  man  in  this  convention  was  to  cross  the  Georgia  line  to-day,  with  a 
cargo  of  cotton-seed,  he  would  be  incarcerated  within  the  four  walls  of  the 
jail,  within  fifteen  minutes.  They  have  not  only  quarantined  against  the 
State  of  Texas,  but  also  against  the  State  of  Louisiana,  and  you  cannot 
ship  cotton-seed  or  a  cotton  bale  into  that  State  from  this  State. 

Now,  Mr.  President,  I  want  to  state  that  in  the  State  of  Virginia,  the 
State  that  has  produced  the  greatest  statesmen  that  the  world  has  ever 
seen,  that  old  State  a  few  years  ago  was  invaded  by  a  pest  almost  as 
dangerous  as  the  one  we  are  threatened  with  to-day.  That  State  prepared 
an  act,  and  all  that  we  have  to  do,  is  to  take  that  act  and  write  boll  weevil 
into  it,  and  we  have  one  of  the  most  efficient  laws  that  can  be  enacted. 

Now,  if  you  provide  for  this  Commission,  you  have  five  intelligent  men, 
known  to  every  man  in  this  State.  I  want  to  state  in  that  connection  that 
your  fiiend  Mr.  Morgan  will  be  a  member  of  it.  I  have  received  a  letter 
from  the  Agricultural  Department  at  Washington,  stating  that  the  AgH- 


7  PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOLL  WEEVIL  CONVENTION. 

cultural  Department  of  the  Federal  Government  were  perfectly  willing  to 
leave  to  Mr.  Morgan  in  this  State,  whatever  it  was  to  do  with  reference 
to  the  boll  weevil,  as  he  was  as  perfectly  competent,  as  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment, to  deal  with  that  subject. 

Now,  I  say  there  could  be  no  possible  objection  to  that.  We  have  a 
peculiar  condition  here.  We  have  a  peculiar  State.  There  is  no  State  in 
the  Union  like  ours.  We  find  out  here,  in  this  great  Southern  section,  that 
the  main  crop  is  cane,  we  find  in  another  where  the  main  crop  is  rice, 
we  find  again  in  the  Northern  section  of  the  State  that  the  great  masses  of 
the  people  are  engaged  in  the  cotton  culture. 

In  my  limited  experience  in  the  political  and  legislative  history  of  this 
State,  I  have  found  that  it  is  often  necessary  to  compromise,  so  as  to 
satisfy  the  different  sections  of  the  State,  on  account  of  our  diversified 
interests.  Therefore,  we  have  a  peculiar  State.  But  whenever  the  sugar 
interests  of  the  South  were  at  stake,  you  found  the  people  of  the  North 
patriotic  enough  to  come  to  their  support  to  relieve  them  in  times  of 
emergency.  On  the  other  hand  we  have  found  that  whenever  any  great 
peril  have  menaced  us,  that  every  section  of  the  State  has  come  to  our 
aid,  including  the  sugar  planters  in  South  Louisiana,  and  this  great  City 
of  New  Orleans,  which,  with  the  suppression  of  the  boll  weevil  is  destined 
to  become  the  metropolis  of  the  world. 

Now,  there  is  an  impression  in  the  minds  of  some  people  to-day,  and 
that  objection  has  been  raised  to  this  measure,  that  you  are  simply  going 
to  provide  for  the  appointment  of  a  Commission,  which  means  more  money 
out  of  the  public  treasury.  I  want  to  say  to  you,  and  I  say  it  conscien- 
tiously and  honestly,  that  in  a  great  peril  like  this,  it  is  the  duty  of  every 
man  to  lay  aside  his  prejudices,  and  put  his  shoulder  to  the  wheel,  and  do 
what  he  can  to  help  our  people;  and  I  believe  we  have  enough  patriotic 
people  in  Louisiana  to  lay  aside  their  prejudices  and  pass  this  measure 
into  a  law,  and  I  predict  that  it  will  become  a  law.  The  people  of  the 
State  of  Louisiana  have  been  able,  financially,  morally,  physically  and 
otherwise  to  cope  with  every  problem  that  has  confronted  them  in  the 
past;  and  I  believe  they  are  able  to  cope  fully  with  the  situation  which  has 
presented  itself  to-day. 

Now,  I  want  to  say  that  we  have  all  got  to  act  together.  But  we  have 
got  to  entrust  this  matter  to  experts.  I  am  no  expert  myself,  but  if  the 
Governor  of  this  State,  and  the  other  members  of  that  Commission  were 
to  come  to  me  and  tell  me  that  it  is  necessary  to  cut  down  every  stalk  of 
cotton  in  my  fields,  I  would  say  that  I  have  implicit  confidence  in  the 
judgment  of  these  gentlemen,  and  I  would  say,  'let  her  go." 

We  all  know  that  there  is  a  great  danger  threatening  us,  and  I  tell  you 
gentlemen,  that  it  is  a  serious  matter.  We  are  raising  in  this  State  a  con- 
siderable quantity  of  cotton;  and  if  it  were  established  that  fifteen  million 
dollars  were  necessary  to  exterminate  the  boll  weevil,  and  there  was  any 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOLL  WEEVIL  CONVENTION.  79 

reason  to  belie vfe  that  we  could  do  so,  I  would  be  willing  to  spend  that 
amount  without  hesitation. 

I  want  to  say  that  in  the  State  of  Texas,  where  I  have  been  traveling 
to  a  limited  extent,  I  do  not  care  what  other  people  may  tell  you,  but  I  say 
that  some  of  the  best  farmers  are  leaving  their  beautiful  farms  and  their 
homes,  and  moving  on  to  other  sections  where  the  boll  weevil  does  not 
exist.  I  am  informed,  and  I  want  to  say  that  I  am  a  farmer  as  well  as 
a  lawyer,  that  in  the  State  of  Texas  these  cultural  methods  can  only  be 
adopted  by  the  white  people.  A  man  living  in  the  great  alluvial  section 
told  me  about  a  man  with  a  plantation  of  five  thousand  acres,  employ- 
ing some  500  Scandinavians.  Now,  you  can  only  adopt  these  methods, 
when  you  have  white  farmers  in  your  State,  which  I  hope  we  will  soon 
have,  to  replaqe  every  one  of  these  negroes,  and  adopt  these  modern 
methods. 

Now,  gentlemen,  this  is  not  a  local  question.  It  is  not  a  question  that 
concerns  the  State  of  Louisiana  any  more  than  it  does  the  other  cotton 
States  of  the  Union.  By  virtue  of  our  geographical  position,  we  occupy 
a  position  on  the  border  line,  I  might  say,  of  this  pest,  at  the  present  time ; 
but  it  is  only  a  question  of  a  short  time  when  this  pest,  if  not  checked,  will 
have  invaded  every  other  cotton  State  in  the  Union.  It  is  not  only  a 
Southern  question,  but  it  is  a  national  question.  If  ever  we  should  go  out 
of  the  cultivation  of  cotton,  if  we  should  go  into  the  production  of  grain, 
we  would  have  to  come  into  competition  with  the  people  of  the  West  and 
the  North ;  who  now  produce  grain  enough  to  supply  the  demands  of  the 
whole  country  and  more  besides.  It  is  a  national  question.  It  has  passed 
beyond  all  local  bounds.  We  read  in  the  papers  that  in  some  of  the 
Northeastern  section,  the  mills  are  being  closed,  and  thousands  of  people 
have  gone  out  of  employment.  Therefore,  it  is  not  only  a  national  ques- 
tion, but  it  is  an  international  one,  and  the  whole  civilized  world  have 
their  eyes  upon  us,  to  see  whether  we  have  the  manhood  and  the  intelli- 
gence to  grapple  with  this  proposition. 

I  want  to  say  this,  in  closing.  I  believe  that  every  man  in  this  Con- 
vention should  put  his  shoulders  to  the  wheel,  and  give  to  the  men  in  this 
State  who  have  its  welfare  at  heart  and  to  the  Chief  Executive  who  re- 
paired from  his  home  to  come  here,  their  active  co-operation  and  support. 
Not  only  the  prosperity  of  the  planters,  but  the  prosperity  of  the  cities, 
and  the  towns,  depends  upon  the  action  which  shall  be  taken  by  this  Con- 
vention. If  you  permit  those  great  alluvial  fields  of  cotton  to  be  destroyed, 
if  you  allow  all  these  beautiful  homes  to  be  abandoned,  and  confess  to  the 
world  your  inability,  to  combat  with  this  problem,  there  is  not  a  man, 
woman  or  child  in  the  State  of  Louisiana,  or  in  the  South,  or  in  the 
nation,  which  will  not  be  seriously  affected  by  it.  But  if  you  put  your 
shoulders  to  the  wheel,  and  give  to  the  State  authorities  your  earnest,  in- 


80  PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOLL  WEEVIL  CONVENTION. 

telligent  and  effective  support,  I  believe  you  will  solve  this  problem,  and 
solve  it  intelligently. 

At  the  conclusion  of  Judge  Pugh's  argument,  it  was  moved  and 
seconded  that  the  resolutions  be  adopted  as  a  whole. 

The  President. — A  motion  was  made  that  the  report  should  be  taken 
seriatim.  A  substitute  is  now  offered  that  it  be  adopted  as  a  whole. 

I  want  to  announce  now,  as  your  Chairman,  that  gentlemen  making 
speeches  should  confine  themselves  to  the  subject  that  is  before  us  for 
discussion.  The  Chairmen  of  Committees  necessarily  have  latitude ;  but 
I  shall  call  gentlemen  to  order  unless  they  confine  themselves  to  the  sub- 
ject that  is  to  be  discussed. 

Mr.  W.  L.  Foster. — Mr.  Chairman,  as  the  maker  of  the  motion  to  have 
the  resolutions  re-read,  and  accepted  section  by  section,  I  am  speaking  to 
the  substitute,  in  order  indirectly  to  speak  to  my  motion.  I  do  not  know 
that  I  have  one  single  objection  to  raise  to  one  single  paragraph  or  sec- 
tion of  that  series  of  resolutions.  But,  as  I  understand,  this  is  a  con- 
vention of  the  cotton  planters  of  Louisiana.  Having  discussed  and 
listened,  we  have  now  arrived  at  the  point  of  asking  that  legislation  be 
adopted.  This  set  of  resolutions  is  not  the  act  of  our  State  Legislature, 
which  we  expect  to  have  called  into  extra  session,  soon,  by  his  Excellency, 
the  Governor.  Then  it  seems  to  me  that  if  this  set  of  resolutions  is  to 
go  up  for  final  action,  as  the  consensus  of  opinion  of  this  body,  it  is  cer- 
tainly worth  our  while  to  consider  these  resolutions  section  by  section.  I 
cannot  see  the  need  of  any  hurry  or  haste ;  and  I  cannot  see  the  necessity 
or  wisdom  of  swallowing  a  whole  plate  full  of  good  things  at  once,  when 
it  can  be  chewed  and  digested  spoonful  by  spoonful. 

Mr.  Pugh. — Mr.  Chairman,  I  can  see  no  objection  to  reading  these  reso- 
lutions section  by  section. 

The  first  section  of  the  resolutions  was  then  read  by  Mr.  Dougherty, 
the  Secretary,  and  after  some  discussion  by  Mr.  J.  D.  Williams  who  spoke 
in  favor  of  it,  it  was  unanimously  adopted. 

The  Secretary  then  read  section  No.  2,  of  the  resolutions,  and  Mr.  Pugh, 
moved  its  adoption. 

Mr.  T.  P.  Sullivan,  moved  that  it  be  amended  so  as  to  insert  the  words 
"seed  cotton  and  hay  and  other  farm  products/'  after  the  word  "cotton- 
seed;" observing  that  as  Professor  Morgan  has  remarked,  these  articles 
might  be  the  means  of  introducing  the  pest  into  this  State. 

Another  member  of  the  Convention,  moved  that  the  words  "baggage  and 
cotton -seed  meal"  be  inserted  immediately  after  the  words  suggested  by 
Mr.  Sullivan. 

Mr.  Pugh  accepted  both  amendments  and  moved  the  adoption  of  the 
resolution  as  amended,  which  motion  being  duly  seconded  was  carried. 

Upon  reading  »f  the  third  section,  Mr.  Pugh  moved  its  adoption. 

Mr.  W.  L.  Foster. — What  would  be  the  scope  of  this  Advisory  Board? 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOLL  WEEVIL  CONVENTION.  8l 

To  my  mind  the  proper  work  to  be  carried  on,  should  be  something  like 
the  policing  and  quarantining  of  the  border  between  Louisiana  and  TVxas. 
There  should  be  a  provision  for  entomologists  to  act  as  inspectors  along 
those  lines  just  as  we  have  oil  inspectors  for  instance.  That  of  course 
could  not  be  done  by  this  Commission,  they  would  not  have  the  time  to 
do  so. 

Mr.  Brazeale. — If  you  will  permit  me  to  interrupt  you,  don't  you  think 
that  "plenary  powers,"  means  that  they  would  have  the  power  to  do  so. 
I  should  think  that  would  be  sufficient  to  enable  them  to  do  anything  which 
the  situation  may  require. 

Mr.   Foster. — If  that  is  the  sense  of  this  Commission,  1  am  satisfied. 

Mr.  Pugh. — The  idea  of  that  is  to  confer  upon  this  Commission  the 
same  power  that  the  Board  of  Health  has. 

A  Member. — Do  I  understand  correctly  that  this  Commission  would 
have  the  right  to  go  into  the  State  of  Louisiana,  and  destroy  any  man's 
property  without  paying  for  it.  If  that  is  going  to  be  the  power  vested 
in  them,  I  think  it  would  be  going  a  little  too  far.  There  should  be  a  fund 
created  to  meet  cases  like  that.  I  would  offer  as  an  amendment,  that  there 
be  a  fund  provided  to  meet  such  emergencies. 

The  President— You  will  probably  find  that  inserted  in  the  State  en- 
actment. 

Mr.  Pugh. — So  that  nobody  will  go  home  without  understanding  it,  I 
want  to  say  that  it  is  not  the  intention  that  any  man's  property  should  be 
destroyed  without  making  to  him  some  sort  of  compensation ;  but  we  do 
not  want  to  provide  for  a  fund  to  meet  this  idea  in  these  resolutions.  I 
do  not  like  to  attribute  any  evil  motives  to  any  one,  but  we  do  have  some 
evil  men,  otherwise  we  would  have  no  jails.  If  you  had  any  provision, 
any  express  provision  for  such  cases,  I  believe  it  would  offer  a  strong 
temptation  to  some  of  those  living  on  the  border  line,  who  might  have  a 
poor  crop,  to  import  the  boll  weevil  into  his  fields,  so  as  to  have  them  de- 
stroyed, and  to  obtain  a  compensation  which,  as  you  know,  in  all  such 
cases,  is  almost  invariably  greater  than  the  value  of  the  property  destroyed. 
All  such  cases  are  tried  before  a  jury  who  assess  the  value,  and  as  I  have 
found  it  in  my  experience,  there  is  always  a  strong  tendency  in  such  juries, 
to  overestimate  the  value  of  the  property  destroyed,  which  is  to  be  com- 
pensated for. 

The  question  should  be  left  to  the  discretion  of  the  Governor,  the  Com- 
missioner of  Agriculture  and  those  two  farmers.  I  do  not  think  they  would 
be  likely  to  destroy  any  one's  crop  without  making  adequate  compensation. 
I  do  not  think  that  the  Agricultural  Department  at  Washington  would  en- 
couraare  us  to  put  in  these  resolutions  anything  that  would  advertise  that 
we  would  do  that. 

The  gentleman  who  had  moved,  as  an  amendment,    the    creation    of    a 


82  PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOLL  WEEVIL  CONVENTION. 

special  fund,  here  withdrew  his  motion.  And  the  section  was  unanimously 
adopted. 

Section  four  was  next  read. 

Mr.  Polk,  of  Rapides. — I  offer,  as  an  amendment  to  that  section,  that 
we  advocate  an  appropriation  of  $100,000.00  instead  of  $25,000.00.  Now, 
gentlemen,  there  is  no  necessity,  and  no  great  fight,  industrial  or  other- 
wise, that  has  been  won  by  economy  of  this  kind.  If  you  desire  to  protect 
the  interests  of  this  State,  there  should  be  no  sacrifices  in  this  line.  We 
have  one  of  the  most  competent  men  at  the  head  of  this  administration, 
and  we  have  a  Legislature  that  believes  in  these  ideas,  and  would  give 
you  a  sufficient  fund,,  in  order  to  fight  the  encroachment  of  the  boll 
weevil.  We  do  not  desire  to  undertake  this  fight  in  a  spirit  of  economy. 

We  do  not  know  the  personality  of  the  incoming  Legislature,  but  we  do 
know  this  body,  of  which  I  have  the  pleasure  to  be  a  member,  and 
therefore,  gentlemen,  I  say  give  this  Commission  enough  money  to  place 
entomologists  along  the  entire  line,  if  necessary,  and  make  a  good  fight  at 
any  cost.  We  hear  that  the  State  of  Texas  is  held  in  derision,  because  it 
simply  appropriated  the  pitiful  sum  of  forty  thousand  dollars.  Therefore, 
as  we  have  come,  here,  representing  a  great  interest,  the  taxpayers  that 
contribute  more  to  sustain  our  government  than  any  other  class  of  citi- 
zens, then  give  them  a  liberal  appropriation  and  all  they  demand.  That 
Legislature,  in  all  probability,  if  you  were  to  ask  for  twenty-five  thousand 
dollars,  would  give  you  twelve.  Ask  them  for  a  hundred  thousand  dol- 
lars, or  as  much  thereof  as  may  be  necessary.  If  we  are  going  to  make  a 
fight,  put  up  the  money.  That  is  the  way  to  win  it.  I  offer  that  as  an 
amendment. 

Mr.  Bolton. — I  dislike  very  much  to  disagree  with  my  good  friend,  but  I 
am  forced  to  take  the  defense  of  the  Committee,  being  a  member  of  it. 
I  believe  we  would  make  a  serious  mistake  in  going  before  the  Legislature 
to  make  such  a  demand,  when  it  will  appear  that  we  have  no  use  for  it 
and  probably  could  not  use  it  for  six  months  to  come.  We  were  told  that 
there  was  a  fund  in  the  hands  of  the  Commissioner  of  Agriculture  of  the 
National  Government,  that  we  could  use  in  a  case  of  emergency.  There- 
fore, it  is  only  necessary  for  the  State  to  show  her  disposition  to  take 
action  and  co-operate  with  the  Secretary  of  Agriculture  at  Washington, 
because  there  is  where  the  assistance  must  come  from.  It  is  not  what  we 
can  do  here  that  we  must  depend  upon  so  much,  as  what  the  National 
Government  is  going  to  do  in  this  matter.  Moreover,  if  you  go  before 
the  Legislature  with  such  a  demnd  as  that,  my  opinion  is  that  you  will 
meet  with  a  rather  cold  reception,  because  there  are  other  interests  in  the 
State  that  have  to  be  taken  care  of,  as  well  as  yours.  But  it  is  only  a 
qustion  of  six  months,  when  the  fiscal  year  will  end,  and  other  appropria- 
tions  will  have  to  be  made.  We  can  address  the  Legislature  when  this 
work  is  undertaken,  to  carry  it  on.  Moreover,  T  do  not  believe,  and  have 


PROCEEDINGS   OF  THE   BOLL    WEEVIL   CONVENTION.  83 

never  believed  in  asking  anything  but  just  what  we  need.  This  thing  of 
asking  for  a  larger  amount  than  you  want,  believing  that  you  will  be  cut 
down  anyway,  never  had  any  favor  with  me.  I  hope  the  Convention  will 
not  adopt  this  amendment. 

Mr.  Pugh. — In  the  construction  of  these  resolutions,  we  called  in  the 
Governor,  and  this  idea  met  with  his  approval.  In  view  of  the  fact  that 
the  Legislature  is  going  to  meet  next  May,  I  think  that  these  twenty-five 
thousand  dollars  will  be  sufficient  to  inaugurate  the  work,  and  trust  to  the 
next  regular  session  of  the  Legislature  to  make  any  appropriation  that  may 
have  become  necessary.  I  have  confidence  in  the  patriotism  of  the  people 
of  this  State,  and  I  do  not  believe  jrou  could  represent  to  our  Legislature 
the  gravity  of  the  situation  without  obtaining  all  the  money  that  is  neces- 
sary. I  do  not  believe  we  will  need  twenty-five  thousand  dollars,  because 
I  believe  the  moment  the  Legislature  has  passed  an  appropriation,  the  old 
man  who  has  spent  most  of  his  life  on  a  farm  in  Iowa,  and  who  has 
shown  conclusively  that  in  the  discharge  of  his  official  duties  he  knows  no 
sectional  lines,  will  send  an  army  of  experts  to  us;  that  when  we  have 
shown  that  we  mean  to  act  intelligently  and  conservatively  along  these 
lines,  he  will  send  an  army  out  here  to  help  us  out.  We  will  have  the 
co-operation  of  all  the  people  of  this  government.  I  appreciate  the  motive 
which  the  gentleman  had  in  making  this  motion,  as  I  believe  he  did 
not  remember  that  we  are  going  to  have  a  session  of  the  Legislature  in 
the  next  four  months.  I  hope  the  gentleman  will  recall  his  motion,  and 
that  the  adoption  of  this  section  will  be  unanimous. 

Mr.  Polk.— Mr.  Chairman,  I  would  like  to  withdraw  the  motion;  but 
inasmuch  as  our  Congressmen  tell  us  that  no  measure  can  ever  be  counted 
as  passed  in  the  National  Congress  until  it  has  finally  received  the  signa- 
ture of  the  Chief  Executive,  let  us  place  ourselves  in  a  position  to  make 
the  fight  ourselves,  unaided,  should  the  Federal  Government  not  intervene. 
Let  us  not  stand  in  the  attitude  of  beggars  towards  the  National  Govern- 
ment. Impress  it  upon  them  by  resolution,  that  the  national  interests  are 
identical  with  the  interests  of  Louisiana,  and  that  the  prosperity  of  the 
nation  at  large  is  dependent  upon  the  prosperity  of  the  individual  States. 
They  will  come  to  the  rescue  when  they  know  that  we  are  able  to  take 
care  of  ourselves.  We  do  not  know  what  conditions  may  arise.  If  the 
necessity  arises  for  the  expropriation  of  the  crops  of  some  of  our  farmers, 
let  us  have  the  money  to  meet  the  cost.  Therefore,  I  cannot  now  with- 
draw my  motion,  but  prefer  to  have  it  submitted  to  the  convention  for 
rejection  or  acceptance. 

Mr.  Foster. — I  agree,  to  some  extent,  with  our  friend  Judge  Pugh,  in 
wanting  absolute  harmony;  but  I  agree  more  strongly  with  the  gentleman 
from  Rapides  who  urges  and  insists  upon  a  larger  appropriation.  Now,  I 
may  have  listened  to  the  reports  from  Texas  to  little  purpose,  but  I  do  not 
remember  ever  seeing  or  hearing  where  Texas  has  ever  received  any  large 


84  PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOLL  WEEVIL  CONVENTION. 

appropriation  from  the  Federal  Government,  for  the  stamping  out  of  the 
boll  weevil  up  to  date. 

Mr.  Brazeale. — You  are  right  about  that.     At  that  time,  there  was  no 
explanation,  no  fight.    We  did  not  know  what  it  meant.    It  went  through 
Congress  without  any  explanation  about  it.     I  know  if  the  explanation 
had  been  made,  the  appropriation  would  have  been  larger, 
facts,  as  we  know  them.     It  has  been  said  that  we  can  reason  as  to  the 

Mr.  Foster. — We  must  come  face  to  face  with  this  question  with  the 
future  only  from  the  past;  and  if  I  understand  the  general  trend  of  Fed- 
eral legislation,  it  is  more  in  the  line  of  supplying  facts,  for  research,  scien- 
tific and  otherwise,  than  for  fighting  the  battles  of  a  section  of  the  country. 
While  the  Federal  Government  may  send  its  experts  down  here,  to  find 
out  the  progress  of  the  boll  weevil  and  establish  experiment  stations  here, 
as  they  have  done  in  the  State  of  Texas,  and  conduct  the  battle  of  fighting 
the  boll  weevil,  still  I  have  some  doubt  as  to  its  spending  thousands  and 
thousands  of  dollars  to  patrol  our  borders  and  keep  the  pest  out  of  the 
State. 

Another  point  that  has  occurred  to  me  is,  that  notwithstanding  the  fact 
that  the  General  Assembly  will  meet  in  regular  session  in  four  months, 
perhaps,  after  the  special  session  will  have  adjourned;  that  during  these 
four  months,  if  the  boll  weevil  has  made  any  inroads  in  our  State,  he  may 
have  advanced  very  rapidly.  It  may  be  that  by  the  time  the  General  As- 
sembly meets  in  regular  session,  the  boll  weevil  will  already  have  made 
its  inroads  in  our  alluvial  lands. 

It  is  well  to  be  forearmed.  Nobody  believes  that  this  money  will  be 
squandered;  and  why  not  address  the  Legislature  for  one  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars,  rather  than  risk  the  danger  of  not  having  enough  ? 

The  President. — A  dispatch  in  this  morning's  paper  says  that  the  Sec- 
retary of  Agriculture,  Mr.  Wilson,  recommends  an  appropriation  of 
$500,000.00,  an  organized  effort,  to  deal  with  this  boll  weevil  question.  1 
simply  make  the  statement  as  I  saw  it  in  print. 

Captain  Marston. — I  would  like  to  ask  whether  the  State  of  Louisiana 
has  $100,000.00  in  the  treasury  to  make  this  appropriation.  I  believe  a 
twenty-five  thousand  dollar  appropriation  would  be  easier  to  get,  and  it 
would  serve  every  purpose.  I  believe  that  is  what  has  been  recommended 
by  the  entomologist  and  others. 

Mr.  Brazeale. — I  look  upon  this  question  from  a  practical  standpoint, 
I  would  like  to  give  you  one  or  two  reasons  why  it  appears  to  me,  that  it 
would  not  be  wise  to  adopt  the  substitute  offered  by  Mr.  Polk,  which  Mr. 
Foster  favors. 

I  take  it  for  granted  that  a  Committee  which  goes  to  work,  and  asks  for 
an  appropriation,  makes  figures,  and  is  better  situated  to  make  those  figures 
than  you  and  I  are.  They  figure  out  just  exactly  what  the  thing  will 
cost.  Therefore,  they  are  in  a  better  position  to  speak  than  you  and  I 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOLL  WEEVIL  CONVENTION.  85 

are  who  have  not  had  the  benefit  of  that  information  that  they  have; 
and  its  report  is  entitled  therefore  to  more  consideration  than  the  jumped 
up  opinion  of  an  ordinary  man.  Any  one  will  concede  that.  When  I  read 
it  this  morning,  and  discussed  it  with  Mr.  Pugh  and  the  Governor  for  the 
very  suggestions  made  by  Mr.  Foster,  there  seemed  to  be  an  opinion  that 
this  should  not  be  done.  First  they  will  not  need  it,  there  will  be  no 
necessity  for  using  the  whole  of  this  money  before  the  Legislature  meets 
again.  Second,  if  you  ask  for  more  than  can  reasonably  be  granted  by  the 
Legislature,  you  are  running  the  risk  of  being  discredited  by  that  Legisla- 
ture when  it  refuses  to  give  you  what  you  ask.  Again  you  run  the  risk 
of  getting  a  veto  message  from  the  Governor,  if  the  Legislature  adopts 
these  views,  against  his  judgment.  Again  you  get  a  black  eye.  So  do 
not  take  these  risks.  I  take  it  for  granted  that  these  gentlemen  who  bring 
in  these  resolutions  had  before  them  the  opinions  of  the  people,  and  the 
judgment  of  the  people,  in  charge  of  the  State  finances,  and  of  those  who 
will  be  in  charge  of  the  workings  of  this  Commission.  Now,  I  say  it 
would  be  unwise  for  us  to  adopt  any  resolution  that  might,  in  the  course 
of  the  next  two  weeks  receive  a  decided  set  back  by  adverse  action  on  the 
part  of  the  Legislature,  who  may  think,  as  those  in  charge  of  the  car- 
rying out  of  the  suggestions  of  this  convention,  that  this  fund  is  ample. 

Now,  in  going  on  the  floor  of  Congress,  or  before  the  Committee  on 
Agriculture,  if  I  could  say  that  here  is  the  State  of  Louisiana,  which  has 
appropriated  five  hundred  thousand  dollars  for  this  thing,  now  won't  yon 
gentlemen,  for  appearance's  sake,  appropriate  an  equal  amount,  I  know 
just  what  a  spread  eagle  speech  I  could  make  on  the  floor  of  Congress. 
But  do  you  know  what  answer  I  would  get  from  Congress,  from  those 
Western  farmers  that  understand  just  exactly  the  value  of  every  dollar 
they  have  got.  Why  they  would  say,  why,  if  you  have  got  that  amount, 
you  don't  need  any  assistance.  On  the  contrary,  when  I  *go  before  them 
and  say,  "Here  is  what  we  have  done;  it  is  all  we  can  do,  under  the  cir- 
cumstances. It  is  for  the  benefit  of  the  industries  that  you  are  just  as 
much  interested  in  as  we  are" ;  we  stand  infinitely  more  chances  of  getting 
assistance  from  them. 

Now,  as  to  the  point  made  by  the  Chairman.  I  felt  very  glad  indeed 
in  reading  this  morning's  Picayune,  that  I  made  my  speech  yesterday,  in- 
stead of  to-day.  You  will  see  that  Mr.  Wilson  has  detailed  in  that  report, 
just  what  I  told  you  he  had  outlined  to  me  in  my  conversation  with  him. 
T  want  to  say  that  this  old  gentleman  is  worthy  of  our  most  sincere  thanks, 
for  the  interest  he  has  taken  in  Southern  agriculture  and  Southern  in- 
terests. When  it  comes  to  administer  the  affairs  of  his  department,  he 
does  not  know  geographical  lines.  He  does  whatever  is  best  for  the 
country.  1  feel  assured  we  will  be  assisted  in  every  way,  and  for  that 
among  other  reasons,  I  believe  it  would  be  unwise  to  ask  for  a  larger 
appropriation  than  the  report  calls  for. 


86  PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOLL  WEEVIL  CONVENTION. 

Mr.  Polk. — In  the  first  place,  if  the  Federal  appropriation  would  not 
come  in  until  the  end  of  the  session,  that  may  be  extended  until  next 
August.  The  appropriations  of  your  State  government,  are  never  passed 
until  the  end  of  your  legislative  session,  which  will  be  the  latter  part  of 
next  July.  Now,  you  have  got  a  critical  period  between  the  planting  of 
the  cotton  crop,  until  the  middle  of  July,  without  having  this  available 
fund  to  be  working  on  in  that  time.  I  still  stand  by  my  motion,  to  have 
this  appropriation  placed  at  $100,000.00  as  an  absolutely  necessary  safe- 
guard to  make  this  fight. 

Mr.  Williams. — It  occurs  to  me,  that  the  Committee  which  made  this 
report,  apprehended  that  they  would  have  sufficient  money,  with  this  ap- 
propriation, and  I  am  in  favor  of  standing  by  the  report.  I  do  not  favor 
the  idea  of  forced  legislation.  The  gentleman  has  stated  that  if  you 
obtained  an  appropriation  of  only  $25,000.00  you  might  not  get  another 
appropriation  until  the  end  of  July.  I  do  not  know  that  has  necessarily 
to  be  so.  Emergencies  are  sometimes  considered  by  legislative  bodies. 
I  think  that  $25,000.00  will  meet  all  the  emergencies  of  the  present.  We 
have  no  cotton  growing  at  this  time.  I  think  $25,000.00  will  be  amply 
sufficient  for  the  present.  We  may  want  more  than  $100,000.00  from  the 
next  Legislature. 

The  President. — The  question  that  we  vote  on  now  is  the  substitute. 
The  substitute  means  $100,000.00  instead  of  $25,000.00. 

On  being  put  to  the  house,  the  substitute  was  lost. 

A  motion  duly  seconded  to  adopt  section  four  was  then  carried.  The 
resolutions  were  then  duly  adopted  as  whole. 

On  motion  of  Judge  Pugh,  Governor  Heard  was  invited  to  speak,  which 
he  did  as  follows,  to-wit : 

GOVERNOR  HEARD. 

Mr.  Chairman  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Convention — I  came  here  to  this 
Convention,  not  to  speak,  but  to  listen  and  gather  all  the  information  that 
I  could,  to  meet  the  questio'n  that  is  before  us  to-day.  I  am  gratified  at 
the  unanimity  which  has  characterized  this  Convention.  I  appreciate,  I 
think  fully,  the  seriousness  of  the  situation,  and  what  it  means,  not  only 
to  Louisiana,  but  to  all  the  cotton  growing  States.  I  have  been  in  cor- 
respondence with  the  Agricultural  Department  at  Washington,  and  I  am 
sure  that  they  will  lend  us  every  endeavor  for  destroying  this  destructive 
insect.  While  they  will  do  very  much,  it  is  ours  to  do  something  too. 
I  am  one  of  those  that  believe  that  those  who  help  themselves  first,  will 
come  out  better  than  to  depend  altogether  upon  some  one  else.  I  have 
never  had  any  doubt,  in  my  mind,  as  to  the  wisdom  of  calling  an  extra 
session  to  meet  this  question;  but  I  did  want  this  Convention,  as  I  sug- 
gested to  the  committee  with  which  I  conferred  some  time  ago,  to  discuss 
the  situation  and  move  along  intelligent  lines  and  to  get  at  this  question 


PROCEEDINGS  OE  THE  UOLL  WEEVIL  CONVENTION.  87 

in  as  practical  a  way  as  was  possible,  knowing  as  little  as  we  do  about  it. 
I  believe,  as  has  been  expressed  by  some  of  the  speakers,  that  with  dili- 
gence, with  intelligence  and  determination,  we  can  overcome  this  pest. 
You  are  sure  of  one  thing,  so  long  as  I  have  the  authority  which  is  now 
lodged  with  me,  I  will  always  endeavor  to  further  the  welfare  of  our 
commonwealth.  I  do  not  know  just  when  to  call  this  extra  session.  It 
has  occurred  to  me  that  it  should  be  called  during  this  month,  and  unless 
there  is  serious  objection  on  the  part  of  this  Convention,  I  shall  call  it 
to  be  held  during  this  month  of  December.  I  shall  endeavor,  gentlemen, 
to  carry  out,  as  far  as  in  my  power  lies,  the  recommendations  in  the 
report  of  the  Committee  on  Legislation.  I  believe  that  if  the  Legislature 
will  confer  the  power  therein  recommended,  that  we  will  be  in  a  position 
to  reach  and  get  at  this  question,  in  a  practical,  way;  and  when  we  do 
that,  I  believe  that  Secretary  Wilson,  with  the  power  that  is  behind  him, 
and  the  money  that  is  at  his  command,  will  join  us  in  co-operation. 

Mr.  Polk. — Before  this  Convention  adjourns,  we  would  like  to  submit 
a  report  of  the  Committee  on  Organization. 

Mr.  Davenport  stated  that  he  would  like  to  submit  the  report  of  the 
Committee  on  Resolutions. 

Mr.  Davenport  was  invited  to  read  the  report,  which  he  did,  as  follows 
to-wit : 

COMMITTEE  ON  RESOLUTIONS. 

The  Committee  on  Resolutions  reported  the  following: 
RESOLUTION  No.  i. 

"Resolved,  That  His  Excellency,  W.  W.  Heard,  Governor  of  Louisiana, 
be  requested  to  call  an  extra  session  of  the  Legislature  at  as  early  a  date 
as  possible,  in  order  that  laws  may  be  enacted  which  will  inaugurate  a 
vigorous  campaign  against  the  invasion  of  the  Mexican  bbll  weevil  now 
threatening  our  western  borders." 

RESOLUTION  No.  2. 

"Resolved,  That  in  view  of  the  impending  danger  of  any  early  invasion 
by  the  boll  weevil  into  the  States  of  Arkansas,  Mississippi,  Oklahoma  and 
other  cotton  States,  that  the  President  and  Secretary  of  this  meeting  be 
directed  to  correspond  with  the  Governor  and  Commissioners  of  Agricul- 
ture of  each  State  and  urge  the  enactment  of  such  laws  as  will  prevent 
the  introduction  of  the  weevils  into  their  States." 

RESOLUTION  No.  3. 

"Whereas,  the  Mexican  boll  weevil,  which  has  so  seriously  diminished 
the  cotton  crop  of  Texas,  is  now  spreading  with  wonderful  rapidity  east- 


88  PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOLL  WEEVIL  CONVENTION. 

ward  and  northward,  and,  if  not  checked,  will  ultimately  overrun  the 
entire  cotton  belt  of  the  United  States,  and 

"Whereas,  this  spread  of  the  boll  weevil  will  materially  reduce  the 
annual  yield  of  the  cotton  crop  of  America,  and  this  reduction  in  crop 
will  materially  affect  transportation  lines,  bankers,  merchants  and  manu- 
facturers, as  well  as  farmers,  and 

"Whereas,  the  cotton  crop  of  the  United  States  now  furnishing  over 
$500,000,000  is  consumed  partly  by  the  mills  of  this  country,  and  any  dis- 
aster to  the  crop  will  be  felt  by  all  parts  of  the  Union,  and 

"Whereas,  the  larger  portion  of  this  crop  finds  its  way  to  foreign  mills, 
producing  a  large  balance  of  trade  in  favor  of  this  country,  and 

"Whereas,  this  diminution  of  the  cotton  crop  in  the  United  States  will 
stimulate  increased  production  in  foreign  countries,  perhaps  ultimately 
taking  away  from  this  country  the  prestige  so  long  enjoyed  of  producing 
four-fifths  of  the  world's  supply  of  cotton ;  therefore,  be  it 

"Resolved  by  the  planters  and  farmers  of  Louisiana,  That  the  cotton 
crop  *is  of  national  importance,  and  any  diminution  thereof  would  be  a 
national  calamity. 

"Resolved  further,  That  the  President  of  the  United  States  and  the 
honorable  Secretary  of  Agriculture  be  earnestly  urged  to  render  every 
assistance  in  their  power,  in  co-operation  with  our  State  authorities,  to 
prevent  the  spread  of  this  dread  insect  and  to  aid  in  its  eradication  where 
it  now  exists. 

"Resolved  further,  That  the  entire  delegation  to  Congress  from  the 
cotton  States  be  earnestly  requested  to  use  their  influence  in  securing  the 
proper  legislation  and  suitable  appropriation  for  the  purpose  of  successfully 
fighting  this  pest  so  dangerous  to  the  cotton  industry  of  the  United 
States." 

RESOLUTION  No.  4. 

"Resolved,  That  we  do  hereby  memorialize  the  honorable  Legislature  of 
the  State  of  Louisiana  that  they  pass  such  laws  as  to  prohibit  the  killing, 
netting  or  trapping  of  any  kind  or  species  of  birds  (except  the  hawk) 
and  to  fix  the  necessary  penalty  for  same." 

RESOLUTION  No.  5. 

"Resolved,  That  the  entire  delegation  from  this  State  merits  and  hereby 
receives  the  thanks  of  this  Convention  for  their  energetic  action  in  our 
behalf,  and  are  requested  to  present  wise  resolutions  to  the  President, 
Secretary  of  Agriculture  and  to  the  Congress  of  the  United  States." 

RESOLUTION  No.  6. 

"Resolved,  That  His  Excellency,  Governor  W.  W.  Heard,  be  and  is 
hereby  thanked  for  having  called  this  Convention  together — a  most  timely 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOLL  WEEVIL  CONVENTION.  89 

and   appropriate   call,   and   which   can   only   result   in   great   good   to   the 
State." 

RESOLUTION  No.  7. 

"Resolved,  That  the  thanks  of  this  Convention  are  hereby  tendered  to 
the  press  of  this  city  for  their  very  full  reports. 

"Resolved,  That  the  papers  of  this  State  are  requested  to  publish  as 
much  as  possible  of  the  proceedings  of  this  Convention,  in  order  that  the 
farmers  of  the  States  may  become  informed  concerning  this  insect. 

"Resolved,  That  the  thanks  of  this  Convention  are  hereby  tendered  to 
the  railroads  which  have  generously  given  reduced  rates. 

"Resolved,  That  the  thanks  of  this  Convention  are  hereby  tendered  to 
the  New  Orleans  Cotton  Exchange  for  their  generous  action  and  cordial 
reception  given  us. 

"Resolved,  That  the  thanks  of  this  Convention  are  hereby  tendered  to 
the  officers  and  speakers  of  this  Convention." 

RESOLUTION  No.  8. 

"Resolved,  That  the  thanks  of  this  Convention  are  especially  due  Colonel 
A.  R.  Blakely,  of  the  St.  Charles  Hotel,  for  the  free  use  of  parlors  and 
for  the  reduced  rates  to  delegates,  and  to  the  Denechaud  and  other  hotel? 
which  gave  reduced  rates," 

RESOLUTION  No.  9. 

That  the  press  of  the  States  be  requested  to  publish  the  following : 

"Resolved,  That  we  beg  to  caution  the  farmers  of  the  States  against 
the  introduction  of  the  boll  weevil  on  their  respective  farms  by  importa- 
tions from  Texas  of  foodstuff,  such  as  hay  and  corn,  and  other  products, 
such  as  cotton  seed  hulls  and  meal,  and  to  urge  extra  care  in  the  premises 

"We  also  urge  them  to  make  every  effort  to  comply  with  the  recom- 
mendations of  the  Agricultural  Department  of  the  State  in  any  precau- 
tionary methods  which  may  be  suggested  by  it. 

"We  especially  advise  against  publicity  of  reports  of  the  existence  of  the 
weevil  in  any  particular  locality  until  specimens  have  been  sent  to  the 
Station  Entomologist  at  Baton  Rouge,  and  his  report  thereon  is  made. 

"We  deprecate  sensational  and  unauthentic  reports  regarding  the  ex- 
istence of  the  weevil  in  any  particular  locality,  for  the  reason  that  such 
reports,  not  having  the  sanction  of  official  or  scientific  examination,  are 
apt  to  unnecessarily  alarm  the  public  and  are  very  liable  to  mislead  as  to 
the  genuineness  of  the  insect. 

"Resolved,  That  the  thanks  of  the  Convention,  representing  as  it  doe? 
the  great  cotton  industry  of  Louisiana,  be  tendered  Hon.  James  Wilson. 
Secretary  of  Agriculture  of  the  United  States,  for  his  timely  and  active 
interest  and  support  in  coming  to  the  rescue  of  the  cotton  interest  of  thi« 


90  PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOLL  WEEVIL  CONVENTION. 

country  in  doing  everything  in  his  power  to  relieve  the  boll  weevil  sit- 
uation." 

A  member  of  the  Convention  stated  that  the  Convention  owed  its 
success  largely  to  Professor  Stubbs,  and  moved  to  amend  the  resolutions, 
so  as  to  extend  the  thanks  of  the  Convention  to  him. 

Capt.  Davenport  stated  that  during  the  preparation  of  the  resolutions,  Dr. 
Stubbs  had  overheard  his  name  mentioned  among  those  to  be  thanked, 
and  asked  the  committee  not  to  thank  him.  Captain  Davenport  stated 
further  that  the  committee,  as  well  as  the  Convention  at  large,  thanked 
him  in  their  hearts  if  they  did  not  do  so  on  paper. 

The  resolutions  were  duly  adopted. 

COMMITTEE  ON  PERMANENT  ORGANIZATION. 

The  Committee  on  Permanent  Organization  next'  submitted  its  report, 
as  follows,  to-wit : 

The  Committee  on  Permanent  Organization  recommended  that  the  name 
of  the  Convention,  as  adopted,  be  the  "Louisiana  Boll  Weevil  Association." 
The  officers  shall  be  a  President,  Vice-Presidents  and  a  Secretary-Treasu- 
rer. A  committee  of  three  on  by-laws  shall  be  appointed.  The  head- 
quarters shall  be  selected  by  the  Association.  The  initiation  fee  shall  be 
$2  per  annum.  The  Association  shall  meet  annually,  and  be  subject  to  the 
call  of  the  President.  All  citizens  and  business  iaterests  in  Louisiana 
are  eligible  to  membership,  and  the  Association  shall  co-operate  with  like 
organizations  now  or  hereafter  organized  in  other  States. 

On  motion  of  Mr.  Pope,  Col.  Charles  Schuler  was  nominated  for  Pres- 
ident of  the  permanent  organization.  Mr.  Pope  said  no  man  in  Louisiana 
had  given  his  talents  and  his  time  more  liberally  to  the  advancement  of 
the  agricultural  interests  of  this  State,  than  Col.  Schuler. 

The  nomination  being  duly  seconded,  and  proposed  by  Mr.  Pope  to  the 
Convention,  Col.  Schuler  was  unanimously  elected  President  of  the  per- 
manent convention.  He  responded  as  follows  to  the  compliment : 

Gentlemen  of  the  Convention — I  thank  you  for  this  honor.  I  will  try 
to  do  the  best  I  can  to  make  the  Association  a  success. 

Mr.  W.  L.  Foster. — Mr.  Chairman  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Convention : 
As  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Credentials,  I  simply  desire  to  say,  in  a 
general  way,  without  going  into  details,  that  we  have  representatives  from 
25  of  the  parishes  in  the  State  of  Louisiana. 

This  verbal  report  of  the  Committee  on  Credentials  was  adopted. 

Mr.  Polk. — Mr.  Chairman,  I  believe  it  is  proper  that  we  should  now  elect 
the  Vice-Presidents  of  the  Association,  but  inasmuch  as  the  Association  is 
not  yet  on  its  feet,  I  believe  when  we  come  to  the  office  of  Secretary  and 
Treasurer,  we  should  leave  it  to  the  President  of  the  Association,  because 
just  at  this  time  I  do  not  believe  we  can  suggest  a  Secretary  who  would 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOLL  WEEVIL  CONVENTION.  9! 

be  willing  and  able  to  fill  this  position.  But  the  Vice- Presidents  should  be 
nominated  at  this  time. 

The  following  gentlemen  were  nominated  as  Vice- Presidents :  Jno.  P. 
Parker  of  Ouachita,  L.  S.  Frierson  of  De  Soto,  D.  W.  Pipes  of  East 
Feliciana,  John  C.  Buchanon  of  Lafayette,  and  G.  W.  Bolton  of  Rapides. 

Mr.  ,Brazeale  thereupon  moved  to  reconsider  the  rules  of  organization, 
and  that  the  organization  have  five  instead  of  three  vice-presidents.  There 
being  no  objection  to  this  motion  the  same  was  pronounced  carried  by 
the  President;  on  motion  of  Mr.  Brazeale,  the  nominees  aforementioned 
were  elected  unanimously. 

On  motion  duly  carried,  the  President  and  Vice-Presidents  shall  con- 
stitute the  Board  of  Directors. 

On  motion  duly  carried,  the  appointment  of  the  Secretary  and  Treasurer 
was  left  to  the  Board  of  Directors,  and  that  the  appointee  be  in  the  office 
of  the  Commissioner  of  Agriculture. 

The  President. — I  will  state  here  that  I  will  consult  with  Major  Lee  in 
making  this  appointment. 

On  motion  of  Mr.  Polk,  Baton  Rouge  was  nominated  as  the  place  of 
domicile  of  the  Association. 

Mr.  Brazeale  offered  as  a  substitute  that  Baton  Rouge  be  appointed  as 
the  domicile  of  the  Association,  and  that  the  next  Convention  be  held  in 
Shreveport. 

Some  gentleman  from  Caddo  moved  that  Shreveport  be  named  as  the 
domicile  of  the  Association. 

Upon  taking  the  vote,  the  house  stood  equally  divided,  with  nineteen 
votes  on  either  side  (a  great  many  of  the  delegates  had  left  the  house, 
owing  to  the  late  hour),  and  the  President  decided  the  question  in  favor 
of  Baton  Rouge. 

The  Convention  then  decided  to  hold  its  next  session  in  Shreveport. 

The  Convention  then  adjourned. 

The  following  Permanent  Committee  were  appointed  by  the  President 
after  adjournment: 

Committee  on  Boll  Weevil  Legislation — Judge  Walter  Guion,  New  Or- 
leans ;  Prof.  H.  A.  Morgan,  Baton  Rouge ;  Henry  Carleton,  Shreveport. 

Committee  on  Bird  Legislation— Mr.  Frank  M.  Miller,  New  Orleans; 
Judge  Eugene  D.  Sanders,  New  Orleans;  Dr.  J.  G.  Kells,  New  Orleans. 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

ENTOMOLOGY  LIBRARY 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or 

on  the  date  to  which  renewed. 
Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 


JUN4-1986 


JUN  4  - 1986 
SEP  2  9 


LD  21-40m-l,'68 
(H7452slO)476 


General  Library 

University  of  California 

Berkeley 


